Look Into The Mirror
by Rhiose
Summary: The Golden Trio and Draco return to Hogwarts to complete their seventh year. A certain reflective object provides immense fascination for both Hermione and Draco who discover that they are more similar than they imagined.  DM/HG  and other pairings
1. Chapter 1

**I decided to re-write it. I feel better now somehow. :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione Granger woke up with a start and looked around her. She was still in Ginny's room in The Burrow. A muted sigh escaped from her as she lay back down on the mattress. She had been having the occasional nightmares some nights ever since the war had ended. They usually depicted scenes of her loved ones being tortured or dying – something which she was very sure she didn't ever want to see again.

She turned over on her side and closed her eyes, willing herself back to sleep. However, she couldn't fall asleep. She was too alert and aware of the quiet. It amplified the sound of her heartbeat and her breathing. She slowly raised herself and peeked at the lump on the next bed. Ginny Weasley was still deep asleep, obviously not tormented with nightmares like how she was.

Hermione got out of bed slowly and stretched. She tiptoed out of Ginny's room and headed to the bathroom. After a quick shower, she made her way to the large mirror that hung from the wall. The reflection was of a girl who looked tired but happy. _Yes_, thought Hermione, _the __war __is __over. __And __I'll __be returning __to __Hogwarts __soon_.

That was one thing Hermione was definitely looking forward to – going back to Hogwarts. She had been unable to complete her seventh year and was eagerly waiting for a year of more knowledge and hopefully, fun at school.

She traipsed down the winding, crooked stairs, careful to skip certain steps that would creak and tiptoed past other doors. Stopping at the side table in the corner of the living room, she took her book entitled _Fascinating __Magical __Objects __and __Their __Properties_, sat down on a cushion and began to read the morning away.

* * *

"Good morning, dear!"

Hermione looked up to see Ginny's mother bustling into the living room and heading towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mrs Weasley," replied Hermione warmly.

Hermione looked at the clock in the living room for the time but remembered that it didn't show the time of the day. She looked out of the window. Judging by the strength of the sunlight, she assumed it was half-past eight. _Wow_, she thought, _I've __been __up __for __at __least two hours __now_.

"What would you like to have for breakfast? Toast? Pancakes? Eggs? Cereal?"

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "Don't worry about it, Mrs Weasley. I'll get it myself."

"No, no, dear, I'll – "

"Mrs Weasley," said Hermione firmly as she smiled at the older woman. "And I'll help you with anything else you need to do."

Mrs Weasley gave Hermione a grateful smile. "Thank you for the offer, dear. When the others are up, we'll be going to Diagon Alley."

"All right."

Hermione stood up and made her way to the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and added some blueberries to it. In the meantime, Mrs Weasley was preparing heaps of toast, eggs, bacon and other scrumptious food and setting the table. Just as Hermione was finishing her breakfast, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Mr Weasley walked in.

"Morning," said Hermione, smiling at everyone.

"Morning, Hermione," said Harry, grinning.

Ron, who looked half-dazed, just simply nodded and slumped down in his seat but not failing to help himself to the mound of food set before him. Ginny, however, greeted Hermione with equal enthusiasm as Harry and sat down. Mr Weasley took his customnary seat, which happened to be next to Harry, and started grilling Harry on some appliance.

"We're going to Diagon Alley today. Arthur has got the day off so he can come with us," Mrs Weasley announced.

"Ahyubahinuwaderminy?" asked Ron, through mouthfuls of eggs and toast.

"Ronald," snapped Mrs Weasley, "don't speak with your mouth full."

Ron swallowed his food. "Are you buying a new wand, Hermione?"

Hermione took out the wand she'd been using since the end of the war from her pocket. It did work well for her. She and Harry were practicing spells using the different wands he had collected and she had disarmed Harry while he was holding this wand. It was a hawthorn. Draco Malfoy's.

"I'm not sure," said Hermione as she examined the wand. "It's working well for me and I quite like the texture."

Mr Weasley looked at Hermione closely. "You could always get another wand. A new one for a new start."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It'll be good for you to choose a wand that would fit you."

"I don't like the idea of you using that git's wand," said Ron as he stuffed his mouth full with food.

"Who?" asked Mrs Weasley, curious.

Harry neatly took the wand out of Hermone's hand. "This wand belonged to Draco Malfoy."

Mrs Weasley's eyes widened in surprise. Ginny accidentally dipped her hand in honey as she stared at Hermione.

"Malfoy?" gasped Ginny as she continued staring at Hermione.

"Then you should get another one!" said Mrs Weasley, getting up from the table. "Hurry up, let's get going as soon as we can."

Hermione quickly reached out and grabbed the wand back from Harry. "It's perfectly fine now."

Harry shook his head solemnly. "Think of the number of people who were tortured with this wand. Wasn't that the reason why you didn't want to use Bellatrix's wand?"

Hermione gulped. "True. But you have no proof that Draco had tortured people."

"Just like how you didn't believe that he was a Death Eater."

"Okay. I was wrong about that. But you can't keep thinking that he'll only do bad things."

"What good has he done, Hermione? He's made everyone's lives so miserable."

All of them had retrieved their travelling cloaks and were getting ready to go to Diagon Alley by Floo. Hermione stood next to Harry and looked at her friend while keeping one hand around the wand that she tucked deep into the pocket of her cloak.

"It's not his fault, Harry."

"_Why_ are you so attached to that wand?" asked Harry, exasperated.

Hermione's defensive gears came up. "I'm not _attached_ to it. I just like the feel of it. In fact, I daresay that I like it better than my original wand!"

"Suit yourself, Hermione," said Harry. "Let's drop this subject. Nothing good is going to come out of it."

"Come out of what?" asked Ron. He came and stood next to Hermione.

"Nothing, Ronald," said an irritated Hermione as she tried to make eye contact with Harry.

Harry met her eyes and looked back into them firmly.

"I might get another one."

Harry nodded in response as Mrs Weasley beckoned Hermione forward to step into the flames.

"We'll be meeting at Flourish and Blott's, everyone. Now, say 'Diagon Alley' very clearly. Remember not to mis-pronounce it or – "

"I might end up like Harry back in our second year. I know," said Hermione as she took a handful of the Floo powder and stepped into the flames.

She released the handful of powder as far away from her as she could. "D-d-diagon Alley," recited Hermione, coughing as the smoke from the powder had entered her throat, and with a _whoosh_ she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Enjoy this chapter!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco Malfoy surveyed the entire length of Diagon Alley with a suspicious eye. Even though the war was over, Voldemort's secret supporters might still be lingering around. This was not reassuring at all for someone like him whose family had turned against Voldemort at the last moment. Moreover, the Malfoys were known to be aristocratic purebloods and the rest of the Death Eaters had not looked upon their 'traitorous' act very favourably.

Draco cringed at the memory of the events that happened last year. It was not at all pleasant and he was just absolutely _glad_ that everything was over. And now he was going back to Hogwarts, back to school to complete his wrecked seventh year and hopefully, pursue a career as an Auror. _If __the __Ministry __would __let __someone __with __my __kind __of __background __even __do __that_, Draco thought.

His mother nudged him into _Twilfitt __& __Tatting__'__s_. Draco reluctantly stepped into the shop. He wanted to go to Madam Malkin's. It was not as expensive – _I __can__'__t __believe __I__'__m __even __thinking __about __money_, Draco thought – and well, he had always been comfortable with it. Except for that time in his sixth year when he had been branded with the Dark Mark and Madam Malkin had accidentally brushed her pins against his mark. He felt so annoyed at that time because he didn't want to have that ugly thing on his arm and the slight brush had sent a pain shooting through his arm.

"Mother, I don't want to buy my robes here," Draco said as the door shut behind them.

Narcissa looked at her son. "Why not, darling? We've gotten your uniform from here for the last two years."

"I want to go to Madam Malkin's."

Narcissa simply nodded, agreeing to her son's request. They left the shop quickly before the owner had come to see who it was who had entered and walked down the cobbled pavement. Draco didn't exactly want to go to Madam Malkin's because he feared he might meet people from Hogwarts.

"You've never liked Madam Malkin," Narcissa said slowly as they approached the shop.

"Mother," said Draco, with feigned shock, "how could you say that? I love everyone!"

Narcissa gave a small smile at her son's sarcastic reply. "Well, you didn't exactly warm up to her."

Draco shrugged as he pushed the door open. "I don't really warm up to anyone."

"True."

"She wouldn't remember that incident from two years ago, would she?" asked Draco, hesitating to put a foot forward.

"Ah, that day when Potter and his friends came in?" replied Narcissa. "I snapped because they raised their wands. And Potter made a nasty remark about your father."

Draco nodded. "I know, Mother. I was pretty surprised to see you talking like that. But I guess at that point of time, we were just defending ourselves."

Narcissa nodded and poked Draco in the back. "Go inside."

As they stepped into the shop, Madam Malkin came hurrying out from behind to see who it was. When she saw Draco and his mother, she froze for a second before putting on a business-like voice.

"Madam Malfoy and son. How may I help you?" she enquired and avoided looking at them.

"She obviously remembers," Draco whispered to his mother as he moved behind her.

Narcissa ignored Draco's remark. "Draco would like to get his school robes fitted."

Madam Malkin eyed Draco suspiciously. "Come here, please."

For the next fifteen minutes or so, Madam Malkin was busy adjusting and hemming a set of robes while Draco stood, rather impatiently, for her to finish. He tried his best not to fidget but he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. He tried looking for his mother but she was not in his line of sight. _Perhaps __looking __for __more __dress __robes_, Draco thought.

"There we go. All done," Madam Malkin announced as she surveyed the end product with satisfaction.

Draco took off the robes hurriedly. His left sleeve went up and exposed the Dark Mark. Draco quickly pulled his sleeve back down again and looked up to see Madam Malkin looking at him with pitiful eyes. He was surprised that her reaction had not been more drastic but felt ashamed to be carrying such a 'scar' around.

"S… s…," Draco stuttered. "Sorry."

"It's all right, dear," Madam Malkin said as she folded the robes with a flick of her wand.

"For you having seen it. And also, for back then. I was rash."

Madam Malkin simply shook her head and packed Draco's robes into a bag. "Where's your mother?"

Draco shrugged. "Mother!" he called.

"I'm just here, Draco," said Narcissa as she came out to the front holding an armful of dress robes.

She placed the dress robes on the counter. "These here are for me. These are for you."

Draco stared at them and groaned. "Please don't tell me I have to get them altered."

"You sure do."

Draco spent the next half an hour sulking as Madam Malkin, yet again, proceeded to hem and alter the robes to fit his body shape and size. He watched his mother smiling at him, like as if there was a halo around his head. When they were finally done, Draco rushed out of the shop without waiting for his mother.

"Wait for me, Draco," Narcissa called as she hurried after her son who was heading to _Quality __Quidditch __Supplies_.

Draco stopped abruptly, causing his mother to bang into him and almost drop the bags she was carrying. Draco took some of the bags in his hand and started walking again.

"Draco, let's get your books first. Then we'll go into the Quidditch shop," Narcissa called out.

Draco sighed. "All right, Mother."

"That's a good boy," Narcissa said as she ruffled his hair with her free hand.

Draco's pale cheeks turned slightly pink as he tried to get out from his mother's touch. "Mother! I'm eighteen!"

"Come on," Narcissa said, "there's nothing wrong with a mother showing some affection for her child."

"It's embarrassing."

"Only if you think it is."

Draco looked away. He hoped that no one he knew had seen what his mother had just done. It was like as if his image was being softened and he didn't quite like that idea just yet. His mind suddenly wandered to a recollection of Mrs Weasley hugging all her children, Hermione and Harry whenever she saw them off or picked them up at Platform 9 3/4s.

"Will you be working extra hard this year?" asked Narcissa hopefully.

"What do you mean? I always work very hard."

"I mean, are you going to let the Granger girl beat you again? If what you've always been doing is very _hard_ work, I suggest you start working _smart_."

"How do I work _smart_?" asked Draco, intrigued.

"Ask the Granger girl."

"She works too hard. I bet she slogs day and night," said Draco, shaking his head.

"I'm sure you'll find a way. I want to you do well," said Narcissa, smiling sweetly at her son.

Draco made to go straight past the entrance to Knockturn Alley but his mother stopped him. Why would his mother want to go down that way? He frowned and looked up at her face but she was looking at something else. He turned to follow her gaze and raised his eyebrows at the unexpected sight.

"Say hello, Draco," said Narcissa, trying her best to smile nicely.

Draco smirked as he beheld the sight of the person who had just come up from the alley. "Hello, Granger."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to those people who've added this to their alerts. Third chapter, so enjoy! :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione fell out of a fireplace, coughing so badly. Her robes were dusty and her hair was dishevelled. She slowly stood up and looked around her. She was definitely in a shop which she had never been in before. The lighting was very dim and candles hung low from the ceiling. She looked closely around her, trying to figure out the kind of place she was in.

She definitely wasn't in _Borgin __and __Burke__'__s_. In fact, if she was not wrong, she was in a shop which was selling rather questionable items. She cast a disillusionment charm on herself and walked through very carefully, making sure not to bump into anything. She walked out of a door and found herself in a narrow alleyway.

Knockturn Alley! That was where she was. Panic struck her as she looked around quickly for the way out to Diagon Alley. She checked her watch and saw that she was five minutes late in meeting everyone else. They would definitely be wondering where she was.

The last time she had come down here was back in her sixth year when they had been spying on Draco Malfoy. If she wasn't wrong, they had taken a turn and walked straight before turning right to get back into Diagon Alley. Hermione crossed her fingers and walked. A small sign showed the direction of Diagon Alley and she rejoiced inwardly. She stood in the shadows and removed the disillusionment charm before walking out into daylight.

But what she saw stopped her in her tracks.

Draco Malfoy and his mother were walking past the entrance to Knockturn Alley and Narcissa Malfoy had just turned and seen her. Worse still, she hadn't just pretended to ignore her but stopped _and_ made Draco stop too.

"Hello, Ms Granger," said Narcissa, nodding her head civilly.

"Mrs Malfoy," replied Hermione, nodding stiffly.

"Say hello, Draco," Narcissa said softly to her son, but Hermione managed to pick it up.

"Hello, Granger."

The underlying sneer was no longer there. In fact, it was just a simple greeting. But the smirk that accompanied it made Hermione's insides turn. Why did Draco have to be so nasty before he could be a little peaceful?

"Hello," said Hermione as she met the eyes of the arrogant blonde-haired boy. "If you'll excuse me…"

Instead of hatred, like she would have normally expected, they were filled with a sort of emptiness. Hermione raised her eyebrows and looked away, not wanting to seem like she was trying to pick a fight. She made to move past both Mother and son but was stopped by a strong grip on her arm. Turning, she saw that Draco had caught hold of her and wasn't about to let her go.

"Where are you going, Granger?" asked Draco, his voice laced with slight humour.

"None of your business. And I didn't think you'd want to touch a mudblood," Hermione said, trying to remove Draco's grip on her arm.

"Draco, let her go," Narcissa said smoothly. "Now Ms Granger, judging by the state of your appearance, I daresay you accidentally Floo-ed into Knockturn Alley?"

Hermione nodded, her face turning red in embarrassment. A small snicker reached her ears and she looked up to see Draco trying to smother a laugh.

"As expected of the _brightest_ witch in Hogwarts. Can't even Floo to the right place! Are you even a witch?" Draco asked, his eyes tearing from trying to hold back his laughter.

"I'm a mudblood, thank you," Hermione said coldly as she stalked off.

"You're not a mudblood, Granger!" Draco called out as he went after her. "You're just a muggle-born witch."

Hermione stopped in her tracks. Now this was new. Ever since when had Draco even described her as a _muggle-born __witch_? She had always been a _mudblood_ to him and she assumed that that would stay the same even after the war was over.

She spun around to face Draco and saw that Narcissa was slowly coming up towards them. "Listen, Draco Malfoy, I don't know what you're playing at but all I know is that if you've really changed, then prove it. From what I see of you, you don't seem to have learned anything."

Draco's eyes narrowed in what Hermione perceived to be anger. "Very shallow thinking, Hermione Granger. I'll prove it to you in school."

Narcissa reached them just then and looked at the two. Sensing the tension in the air, she smiled at Hermione to put her at ease. Hermione looked warily at Narcissa before allowing a small, polite smile to form on her lips.

"Where are you heading to now, Ms Granger?" asked Narcissa.

"Flourish and Blott's. I've got to meet… Oh! I'm so late!" Hermione muttered absent-mindedly as she flailed her hands in exasperation.

"We're heading there as well," said Narcissa as she pushed a reluctant Draco to move ahead.

"Oh," said Hermione as she tried not to look at Draco.

Realising that she still looked a mess, she took out her wand and muttered a few spells. Taking out a small mirror from within her purse, she glanced at her reflection. Pleased with her spell-casting ability, she tucked the mirror and the wand back into her cloak. A weird feeling was creeping up her spine like as if someone was watching her and she turned to see Draco staring at her oddly.

"What is it?" asked Hermione in a frustrated voice.

"Is that my wand you've got there?" he replied in question, disbelieving.

"No, it's mine."

To prove her statement, she took the wand out again. Then she realised that she was actually using Draco's old wand.

"Oops." Hermione's face flushed slightly as she looked at Draco.

He made a grab for it but she had kept it away just as quickly. "It's mine!"

"Not any longer," said Hermione, smirking at Draco.

"Oh gosh, Granger, can I have it back?" asked Draco in a pleading voice.

Narcissa made a small sound of disapproval. "Draco, dear, you've got a new wand. Just leave that one alone."

"But Mother," rebutted Draco, "that was my first wand and I love it very much!"

"Get over it, Draco," said Narcissa, placing a hand on her son's shoulder. "It's not a family heirloom or something of equal importance."

"But it was my first wand!"

Hermione sniggered. It was so hilarious watching Draco trying to get something in a way that a small kid would. She shook her head and bit her tongue in an effort to control herself from laughing even more. It was just a wand but Draco was making such a fuss about it. But she knew that if she had a choice, she'd want her old wand back.

"This one works well for me now," said Hermione, adding oil to the burning fire that was raging within Draco.

"Shut up," said Draco, folding his arms across his chest.

"Draco!" said Narcissa, frowning at her son's language.

"Sorry, Mother."

"Don't apologise to me. Apologise to her."

Draco stared at his mother, dumbfounded. Apologise to Hermione Granger? The know-it-all? No way would he do that and give the bushy-haired girl the satisfaction of being apologised to by Draco Malfoy.

"I can't do that!"

"Draco, if you were able to apologise to Madam Malkin, I don't see why not to Ms Granger."

"That's… different."

"You're just giving excuses. Now, apologise, Draco," said Narcissa.

Hermione noticed that his mother's voice had become so sweetly toxic that Draco had flinched at the sharp edges of his mother's words. She looked at Draco who looked back at her extremely reluctantly. His eyes shifted to the entrance of Flourish and Blott's and back to her as they stepped into the bookstore.

"Sorry, Granger."

"No worries, Malfoy," said Hermione, immediately distracted by the piles of books around.

"I never thought I'd witness the day you apologise to anyone, Malfoy."

Hermione, Draco and Narcissa turned to look at the person who had just spoken. While Hermione was overjoyed, she watched as Draco's face flushed and he stared at the person who, Hermione was pretty sure, would've been the last person he would've wanted to see in such a situation – Harry Potter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the alerts :) Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco wished he hadn't apologised. It was embarrassing enough to be apologising to someone like Hermione Granger and the last thing he would've wanted was for others to hear it. Especially Harry. Draco shook his head and looked away.

"Where are your manners, Draco?" said Narcissa softly. "Greetings, Mr Potter."

"Hey Potter," Draco said slowly.

"Malfoy," Harry said, nodding in acknowledgment. Then he turned away and looked at Hermione, who was busy talking to the rest of _them_.

A shot of jealousy pulsated through Draco. The Golden Trio had so many people who loved them and admired them. Even Harry whose parents were not alive was being loved and cared for by the Weasleys. And Hermione, too, seemed like a part of the family! Draco bit his lips.

"What is it, dear?" asked Narcissa softly enough that only Draco could hear.

Draco shook his head. "Nothing. Let's get my books. I want to look at the Quidditch stuff as soon as I can."

"I'll help you," said Naricssa as she moved behind the shelves to get Draco's books.

Before he could follow his mother, he was stopped by a person with freckled face and unruly, red hair. A shorter, female version stood next to him.

"What now, Weasley and the sister?" asked Draco, perplexed.

"I want to know why you came in here with Hermione," said Ron, his ears turning a faint shade of red. "And my sister's name is Ginny."

"I know it is _Ginny_. And I just met Granger on the way. Now if you please," said Draco as he tried to move past Ron.

But his path was blocked. "_What_?"

"If I find out that you did anything to Hermione, you're in for it, Malfoy."

Draco looked straight into Ron's eyes. "I'm not going to try to do anything to harm your little girlfriend."

Ron's ears turned scarlet. "She's not my girlfriend," he muttered.

Draco raised a slender eyebrow in surprise. "Not?"

"No…"

"Ah well, I'm glad Granger is aware that there are many more fish in the sea," said Draco as he dodged Ron and headed to his mother.

"Malfoy!" bellowed Ron, drawing his wand out of his pocket.

"Ronald, put your wand down!"

It was Mrs Weasley who had hurried over when she heard Ron shout. Draco nodded at her in greeting. She gave a polite nod in return before shoving Ron away.

Draco looked around for his mother and saw her waiting in the queue to pay for his books. Not wanting to join the wait, he walked around the store. He loved to read, and that was one thing he wouldn't admit to anyone except his mother and father. And perhaps the Slytherins who did see him reading. Books of all shapes and sizes fascinated him. Words flowed like honey over vast land. There was nothing which Draco wouldn't want to read.

He had never told anyone, except his mother, that he had even tried reading books written by Muggles. Though the pictures never moved and they hardly involved magic, he found them interesting as they gave a different view of the world.

He picked up a leather-bound book of medium thickness and leafed through it. _Fascinating __Magical __Objects __and __Their __Properties_. The title itself was enough to inspire a sense of curiosity. He looked at the price and after deciding that it was reasonable enough, made a dash to the counter and added it to his stack of books. His mother raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"That is a very good book."

Draco jumped in shock as he saw Hermione standing right behind him. "When did _you_ get here?"

"I've always been here. You just never noticed."

"Anyway, you've read that book?" asked Draco curiously.

"It's my current read. I really like it," said Hermione, her lips lifting at the corner in amusement.

"Oh."

As he took his purchases, he awkwardly bid Hermione goodbye and walked towards the entrance. To his surprise, Mr Weasley stopped him for a moment.

"Draco Malfoy, how are you doing?" asked Mr Weasley, a tad bit awkwardly.

"Fine, thank you. How about yourself?" asked Draco in what he thought was civil enough.

"I'm good. Enjoy the rest of the holidays," said Mr Weasley with a smile that Draco noticed did not reach his eyes.

"Thank you, sir," said Draco, biting his teeth.

As Draco walked out of the shop with his mother, he stopped and took a deep breath. His mother looked at him and shook her head.

"I can't believe that my son has actually grown up to be respectful," said Narcissa.

Draco pouted. "Mother! Of course I have the capacity to offer respect to people who deserve it."

His mother nodded in response. "I'm glad you do. I was so worried you'd turn out so… cold. Like your father."

"Father is… smooth."

"Draco!"

Draco shrugged. "You brought up the topic about Father. I only said what I believe Father to be like."

"You're lucky your father isn't here to hear this."

"I wouldn't dare say it if he was."

Narcissa nodded. "I hope this war has taught you a lesson, Draco."

"I hope so too."

"No cheek from you, young man."

Draco gave his mother an impish grin. "Sorry, Mother. Now, let's go to the Quidditch store."

Draco walked towards the store. One thing that was on his mind was Mr Weasley's little conversation with him. He couldn't fathom why _Mr __Weasley_, of all people, would want to have a chat with him. It didn't quite make sense. _Unless __he__'__s __trying __to __hint __at __me __to __be __a __good __boy_, thought Draco. _But __he __hadn__'__t__said __anything __which __insinuated __that_.

It was quite obvious that none of them were willing to be friendly with him. Harry and Hermione hadn't been too bad. Ginny was a doubt because she hadn't said a word. As for Mrs Weasley, he doubted that he would ever be able to be get into her good books. Mr Weasley didn't quite seem to trust him and that smile was definitely cold.

Draco raised his head high and walked proudly into the Quidditch store. Even though his past had marred the way people looked at him, he was a Malfoy and very proud of being the one and only Draco. He moved to inspect the latest broomstick that was on sale.

"Mother, will you buy this one for me?"

"Now Draco, how many broomsticks do you need?"

"It's not about the quantity. It's about the quality. I want the best broomstick so that I can beat Potter."

"Quidditch is not an option for you this year. Have you forgotten?"

Draco cursed under his breath as he remembered that the repeating batch were not allowed to participate in Quidditch as it would not give the other years a fair chance at competing.

"It's okay. I'll beat Potter at Defence Against the Dark Arts then," said Draco, nodding to himself.

"Stop trying to make enemies. Make more friends," replied Narcissa with disapproval colouring her voice.

"Mother," said Draco quietly, "I think it'll be difficult to be friends with anyone, let alone the Gryffindors."

Narcissa shook her head. "Don't be so negative, Draco."

"I think if I wanted to, I'd have to try very hard to erase the view they have of me."

"You don't have to try hard at all. Just be your true self and everything will fall in place."

"My true self?" asked Draco, smiling mischievously at his mother.

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean!"

"I sure hope I do," mumbled Draco under his breath.

* * *

**Also, how is this going so far with the alternation between Draco and Hermione? And do you find shorter chapters easier to read? Do let me know :)**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

"Where _were_ you, Hermione?"

Hermione turned around to face a flustered-looking Ron. She shook her head and blinked. What's with Ron's behaviour? First, he was yelling at Draco. Now, he was trying to interrogate her. His over-bearing nature sickened her and she felt repulsed by it.

"What _do_ you mean, Ronald?" she asked, rolling her eyes. She only ever called him Ronald when she was feeling annoyed with him.

"Why did you take so long to meet us? Where did you go? How is it that you came in with Malfoy and his snooty mum?" fired Ron at once, anxious to get all the questions out.

"Wow, wow, calm down, Ron," said Hermione. "I got out of the wrong fireplace and ended up in Knockturn Alley – "

"What?"

"Ronald."

"Sorry."

"Draco and his mother were walking by when they saw me and since they were heading in the same direction as I was, we came together," explained Hermione.

Ron looked visibly unconvinced. "Is that all?"

"I can't comprehend what you're trying to get at. If there's something you want to say, _spit __it __out_." Hermione's patience was wearing thin.

Ron's ears reddened. "You were fraternising with the enemy!"

"Oh, give her a break, Ron," interrupted Ginny who had just come up to them. "Stop trying to make it sound like as if she was _snogging_ Malfoy."

Ron's face reddened as well. "Wha – "

"Besides," said Ginny, turning to Hermione, "Malfoy's quite good-looking isn't he? If only he'd fix his personality."

Hermione smiled amusedly at her friend's remark. If she was going to be absolutely truthful, Draco was good looking but his character made everything around him sour and dislikeable. She thought back to the way he had spoken to her. It wasn't _that_ bad if she compared his current self and old self. But then, he still retained some of his bad habits so it brought her pretty much back to square one. Bringing herself back to reality, she realised that Ginny and Ron were bickering.

" – wouldn't mind at all!" Ginny was saying.

"That good-for-nothing git isn't her type at all!" bellowed Ron, looking furiously at Ginny.

"How would you know anything?"

"Sorry, what's going on?" asked Hermione cautiously.

"Never you mind!" both Ginny and Ron said at the same time.

Hermione moved away from the two and joined Harry and Mr Weasley. She was pretty sure that Ron and Ginny were talking about her and Draco and she itched to know what is it they were discussing but refrained from pestering them. Oh, how she just loved to know everything. _No __wonder __Malfoy __always __calls __me __a __know-it-all_, thought Hermione, _but __this __time, __I __don__'__t __think __I __quite __know __everything_. Wait, did she just think about Draco's opinion of her? Hermione shook her head and pushed further thoughts about the blonde-haired Slytherin to the darkest corner of her mind.

"I've managed to get Ministry cars to bring us to Kings' Cross," said Mr Weasley, directing his statement to Hermione. "We'll all be really comfortable."

Hermione nodded appreciatively. "Thanks, Mr Weasley."

"Stay out of trouble, will you?" he said, looking at Harry.

"I don't go looking for trouble, Mr Weasley. Trouble always finds me."

"But there's nothing to worry about now that the war is over," said Hermione, a little uneasily.

Mr Weasley smiled sadly. "I hope so too."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, quickly.

"We don't know if You-Know-Who still has supporters out there."

Hermione nodded in understanding. It was true that the war was over but there could always be trouble from any of the Slytherins who still held Voldemort in high regard. Hermione shuddered. What if Draco Malfoy was one of them? No, he was supposed to be on their side now. _Wait __a __minute_, thought Hermione, _why __am __I __thinking __about __Draco __Malfoy __again?_

"Mom, can we go to George's shop?" asked Ron rather loudly.

"Isn't that where we're headed now?" Harry answered before Mrs Weasley could.

A minute later, they stopped in front of a large, colourful shop that was crowded with so many people. All of them squeezed their way in and were confronted by rows of multi-coloured sweets and potions that promised to work miracles.

While Harry and Ron looked at the different types of sweets that could get them out of a lesson, Hermione weaved through the horde of girls who were looking at love potions and made her way to the back where she spotted George Weasley sitting on a chair, sipping contentedly on butterbeer and surveying the customers. When he saw Hermione, he gave her a wide grin and a tight hug.

"George! How have you been?" asked Hermione, smiling warmly.

"It's been difficult but I guess I'm slowly getting used to Fred not being around. But this is our shop and even though it brings back a lot of memories, I'll see it through till the end."

Hermione looked fondly at George before nodding her head. "Stay positive, George. We'll all be here for you."

"Thanks, Hermione," said George. "And it seems like you've got an interesting year ahead."

Hermione raised an eyebrow in question. "What do you mean?"

George pointed to the little window next to his chair. "My spyglass has shown me some interesting things."

"Like?"

"Like Hermione Granger walking with Draco Malfoy and his mother."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Now this was something she hadn't expected to hear from George.

"Well?" George asked, tilting his head to the side. "How's the love going?"

Hermione flushed with embarrassment. "What love? We just happened to bump into each other. That's all."

"I don't really approve him. Neither will I disapprove him."

"George, really!"

"Really, Hermione. The looks on your faces is one I doubt I'll be forgetting anytime soon."

This piqued Hermione's curiosity. "What looks?"

"Blissful happiness."

"No, we definitely – "

"Hermione," said George, smiling, "I'm just teasing you."

"Oh!" exclaimed Hermione, stamping her foot on the ground. "I got so worked up for nothing!"

"Hmm," said George as he bent closer to look at Hermione, "I wonder what made you get so worked up and all pink."

"George!"

"All right," he said, winking. "I'll leave you for now."

"You'd better. I'm going now. It was great seeing you. Take care, George," said Hermione as she hugged him one last time.

"Send the ferret my regards!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she made her way to the front in search of Harry and Ron. Her eyes roamed all over the place as she walked back. What caught her attention was a slim book that had a green cover and a title that gleamed in gold lettering. _How __to __Make __Your __Enemy __Fall __in __Love __with __You_. It was tempting to open the book and glance at the contents but as her fingers slid underneath the cover, the book was swiftly removed from her hands. Hermione looked up to see Harry placing the book back on the pile.

"You shouldn't be reading that book," said Harry, smiling wickedly at Hermione, "unless you plan to wreak havoc."

Hermione glared at Harry. No one ever told her which book she could or couldn't read. In fact, she read just about every book she had interest in, even on the slightest whim.

"I'm going to see George now. I'll probably mention something about this book too," mumbled Harry as he walked off.

Hermione picked the book up again. And yet again, she slid her thumb under the cover and was about to open it when a voice startled her.

"What's that?"

It was Ron.

"Nothing much," said Hermione, trying to sound casual while blocking the sight of the other copies.

But Ron was too quick and he had picked another copy of the book. "How to Make Your Enemy Fall in Love with You? Hermione, are you mad? Why are you reading this kind of book?"

"I'm not _reading_ it, Ronald. I'm just _holding_ it," said Hermione, exasperated.

"Come on, Hermione. Keep that book back. There's something I want to show you," said Ron as he firmly took the book out of her hands and placed it back on the pile and dragged her away.

Hermione grudgingly allowed herself to be pulled by Ron to another shelf where he began to ask her opinion on certain types of potions. She wanted to see what that book was about but it seemed like it wasn't meant to be read by her. She sighed inwardly, willing herself to pay attention to Ron.

For now, she couldn't wait to return to The Burrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Now, this chapter is half of Draco's POV and half of Hermione's POV. I just had to do it to give both sides of the story. I didn't want to separate the two. They're MEANT to be together. xD Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco tapped his trunk impatiently as his mother fussed about with his eagle's cage. She had made special sweets for him which, undoubtedly, were blueberry flavoured. They tasted much better than the Blueberry Blissfuls from Hogsmeade and Draco was rather proud of the fact that they weren't elf-made sweets. As he turned to regard the swarm of people milling about Platform 9 3/4, a mess of bushy, brown hair caught his eye.

"Mother, I think that Granger's hair is too bushy for her own good," said Draco in his usual drawl.

"Draco, that's very rude!" reprimanded Narcissa. "It's not as bad as you make it out to be."

Draco raised his brows and continued to watch Hermione out of the corner of his eyes. She was rather tearful at parting with the Weasleys and her parents but there was also a sense of eagerness for another year at Hogwarts and a chance to meet with old friends – Hermione was now chatting rather excitedly with a Ravenclaw that Draco vaguely knew was in some of his lessons.

"Staring is considered rude, too, Draco."

Draco looked up to see a small smile playing on his mother's lips. "Yes, Mother."

"She's one of the brightest witches of your generation. Better than a certain blonde pureblood I know of."

Draco gaped at his mother. "Are you trying to criticise me, Mother?"

Narcissa gave a small laugh. "You'd be better off befriending her instead of trying to be her enemy."

Draco's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't expected his mother to broach the subject about befriending Hermione Granger. The thought about being friends with Hermione – or even Harry and Ron – had never crossed his mind.

"Befriend Granger?"

"Why not, Draco? Look at what following your father's ideas has led us to. I'm sure you don't want to repeat the same thing again."

True, he had been brought up to look down upon muggle-borns and strangely enough, that was one thing he never questioned. He questioned everything else that came to him but that was one thing he had just accepted. Perhaps, it was the inculcation of such mentality into him that made him this way. Draco shook his head. He wondered silently how he would have turned out if his father hadn't raised him the traditional pureblood way. Would he have been friends with the Golden Trio?

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" asked Narcissa, curious.

Draco shook his head. "It's nothing."

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Narcissa. "I know you so well, Draco. What is it?"

"Don't worry about it. I'd better get going now."

Narcissa looked reluctant to drop the subject but she simply nodded. "Have a safe trip, dear."

Draco gathered his mother in a tight hug and gave her a small kiss on her cheek. Then, straightening up, he lifted his cage and pulled his trunk towards the train. He waited till every other student in front of him had entered before hauling himself and his trunk into the train. He turned around to see his mother watching him with an unmistakeably tender expression her face.

"I love you," mouthed Narcissa as she waved at him.

Draco felt a warm feeling seep into him as he smiled as his mother. Then, he pointed at himself and held up two fingers – _me __too_. It was something he had never seen anyone else do and took pride in the fact that he was smart enough to come up with something like that. He continued waving at his mother as the train accelerated and the platform moved out of sight.

* * *

"Hermione, are you coming?" asked Harry, looking expectantly at his best friend.

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to…" mumbled Hermione as she pretended to look busy.

"Hermione?" asked Ron as he hesitated behind Harry who was making his way to an empty compartment down the aisle.

"Go first, Ronald," said Hermione sternly.

"Are you sure? Who are you waiting for?" asked Ron, frowning.

"Just go," replied Hermione, staring hard at Ron.

Ron gulped and turned back, making his way after Harry. Hermione stifled a groan. Ron could be so insensitive and prying sometimes. The possessive nature of Ron bugged her to no extent especially since the two of them weren't even dating.

For now, she didn't want to be interrupted while she was doing something she didn't want both of them to know about.

The precarious task of observing Draco Malfoy.

Hermione couldn't believe what she had seen. It was not something she believe many people ever had the chance to see – the relationship between Draco Malfoy and his mother, Narcissa.

She watched discreetly as Draco and his mother shared a rather fond farewell. Seeing Draco hug his mother was very odd because he had always appeared to be a selfish, heartless person. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Draco hug his mother. _That_ she found really unexpected. And the kiss, too, was definitely not something she could have predicted!

As the train left the platform and Draco drew himself back in, Hermione quickly turned away and dragged her trunk behind her while trying to look for Harry and Ron. Her pulse quickened at the thought that Draco was probably walking just behind her and _might_ have seen her abrupt turn.

"Granger."

Hermione froze. That voice could only belong to him. No one else. She turned around slowly, waiting for the worst.

"They're in here," said Draco, pointing to a compartment that was two compartments away.

Hermione's face reddened as she realised that she had missed it while being so deep in her thoughts. She nodded silently and walked back. She stopped outside the compartment, waiting for Draco to move on but he didn't. Instead, he just stood outside the neighbouring compartment and looked at her questioningly.

"_What_, Granger?" asked Draco. "Aren't you going in?"

"Yeah, I am," replied Hermione, finally finding her voice. "Aren't you moving on?"

Draco's eyebrows rose. "I'll be in this one."

"Oh."

Hermione slid the door to her compartment open and deposited her trunk in it. Harry and Ron were in the middle of a game of chess and only looked up briefly to see who was coming in.

"See you around."

It was just a little silver of a whisper but Hermione was so sure she heard it. She darted back out but Draco had already gone into the compartment. Confused, she went back into her compartment and shut the door behind her. Did Draco really say that? Or was it just an auditory hallucination? Hermione shook her head wildly. Having _hallucinations_ about _Draco __Malfoy_ definitely wasn't a good start to the term. _Don__'__t __think __too __much __about __it, __Hermione_, she told herself sternly.

But she couldn't help slipping her hand into her pocket to grasp the hawthorn wand.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm getting there with my chapters! Been trying to do them whenever I'm travelling around. Hope you like this :) And I believe Story Alerts is the right option to receive updates..?**

**Enjoy :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco sat alone in his compartment. He was one of the two Slytherins who were re-doing their seventh year. The other Slytherin was Blaise Zabini but Blaise was away and would only come the following week. Draco wasn't keen on mixing with his juniors either. _If __it __was __the __other __years_, thought Draco bitterly, _I __wouldn__'__t __be __alone __like __this_. But then, what happened had happened and now it was time to move on.

A little tap on the compartment door interrupted him. He looked up but couldn't quite make out the identities of the blurry shapes against the rectangular frosted panel on the compartment door. He got up and slowly slid the door open, one hand reaching into his pockets and gripping the handle of his wand. Realising who it was, he released his grip.

"What do you want, Astoria?"

Astoria Greengrass smiled at Draco. Her friends, two other Slytherins, who were behind her giggled, as if to suggest that Astoria was about to ask him something of a rather sensational nature.

"Do you want to join us, Draco?" asked Astoria, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously.

_A __little __too __flirtatiously_, thought Draco as he blanched inwardly. "I'm fine, thanks," he responded a little stiffly.

As he made to close the door of the compartment, Astoria placed her hand on his arm. Draco looked down at her hand and felt his insides recoil. Her touch was not at all comfortable and was utterly cold! Moreover, he didn't want to be touched by her. He wanted…

"How about us joining you?" asked Astoria, breaking Draco's train of thought.

Draco hesitated. It was perfectly all right if he didn't want to go to their compartment – laziness was forgiven. But to reject an invitation when it was at one's convenience was not quite approved of. _Wait __a __moment_, thought Draco with a start, _that__'__s __how __traditional __purebloods __behave_. But it didn't really matter anymore. He couldn't quite face the idea of being alone for the entire journey. A giggling bunch of juniors, _female_, nonetheless, was much better than the silence which stretched long and was only occasionally interrupted by the sound of the train.

Draco gave a non-committal shrug in reply to Astoria's offer. "Whatever that suits you."

Astoria flashed him a big smile and turned to look at her friends – _cronies, __rather_, thought Draco. "Girls, I'll see you later," she said as she stepped forward, forcing Draco to move into the compartment.

"No, no, let them stay," said Draco as he gave the two girls behind Astoria a wink. "The more the merrier."

Astoria's friends turned beet red and stepped shyly into the compartment. Draco smirked inwardly at their reactions. _So __this __is __the __kind __of __fascinating __response __I __get __when __I __do __something __cheeky __like __that_, he thought. _I __wonder __how __Hermione __will __react__… __wait, __Hermione? __Why __did __she __even __cross __my __mind?_

Not quite comprehending the flow of his thoughts, Draco forced himself back into reality. He smiled at the girls and shut the compartment door. As he turned to sit down, he noticed that Astoria's face looked strangely clouded. Blinking in mild surprise, he looked at her again. A smiled was playing about her lips and she looked quite happy. _Was __I __mistaken __about __her __expression_, he wondered silently, _but __I __could__'__ve __sworn __she __looked __unhappy_.

"… right, Draco?"

The sound of his name startled him. He saw Astoria looking expectantly at him. "Pardon me, but could you please repeat what you said?"

A small frown creased Astoria's forehead. Draco noticed that she didn't look pleased that he hadn't heard what she had said. It was quite painfully obvious to Draco that she wanted to impress her friends in his presence.

"I was telling them that you live in a large manor," she said slowly.

Draco concurred. "Yes. You have been to my house once before if I can remember correctly."

Astoria nodded. "It was your fifth birthday party."

"Mmm," said Draco as vague memories of that day came into his mind. "Ah, do you remember how you smashed the cake because it had pink icing and you didn't have any pink icing on your birthday cake?"

Astoria's face coloured and her friends laughed amusedly. "Well, I was only four at that time."

"Perfectly excusable, of course," said Draco with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"Of course," said Astoria, not noticing the hidden sarcasm.

"So the two of you are childhood friends?" ventured one of Astoria's friends.

"That is a very loose way of putting it," said Draco and at the same time Astoria said, "Yes, we definitely are."

Draco and Astoria looked at each other as Astoria's face flushed with embarrassment.

"To be more precise, we were childhood enemies," said Draco smugly.

"No, we weren't!" retorted Astoria furiously.

"We definitely were. I don't remember there ever being a civil conversation between us as kids. We were always fighting whenever we saw each other."

"But isn't it different now?" persisted Astoria.

"I have to say that the childish Astoria whom I knew has grown up. But then again, even this conversation is filled with disagreements!"

"Yeah, it is!" said Astoria's other friend a little too eagerly.

Draco laughed. "Even you noticed!"

"But are you guys betrothed to one another? Rumours say you are."

Draco's eyebrows rose in pure shock. Betrothed? To Astoria? Since when? And wasn't betrothal a thing of the past? Besides, wasn't it illegal now?

Astoria, however, regained her smug look and nodded proudly. "My mama told me that we are."

"Oh, did she?" asked Draco, a little annoyed.

"Yea – "

"And which dimension is she living in?"

"Draco! Don't be so mean! I'm sure your mother would've mentioned something to you," retorted Astoria.

"No," replied Draco slowly. "And even if she did, I probably wasn't even in the least bit interested."

Astoria looked thoroughly displeased and Draco was silently rejoicing internally. He never liked her and he wasn't aware that their parents had spectacular plans for them. Marriage with a pureblood was to be expected. But to _Astoria_? Draco shivered. It was as bad as trying to date Millicent Bulstrode. He knew that he was being unnecessarily harsh but he couldn't help it.

"Wait and see. You _will_ end up marrying me," said Astoria confidently.

"Marry?"

It was a new voice and everyone turned to look at the entrance to the compartment. Unbeknownst to Astoria, her friends and Draco, there had been a rather soft knock on the door but since no one had replied, it was slid open and revealed the juiciest part of the conversation.

"Hermione," said Draco. He didn't know if he was trying to call out to her or express utter bewilderment as to her sudden presence.

"Oh, _your_ friend, Draco?" asked Astoria with a sneer.

Draco ignored her question but instead focussed on Hermione. "What is it?"

Hermione hesitated. "I was going to – ah, it doesn't matter now, seeing as how you have company."

"Oh, yes," said Draco, "this is Astoria Greengrass – "

"Draco's future wife," added Astoria with a haughty look.

Draco glared at Astoria. "No, you aren't."

"Stop being in _denial_, Draco."

"I'm not – "

"You do sound like you _are_ in denial since you're vehemently protesting against it," said Hermione dryly. "I'll leave you, then."

Hermione gave all of them a polite nod and shut the compartment door. Draco felt something within him erupt.

"What in the _world_ – "

"Wait," interrupted Astoria as she turned to her friends. "If you girls don't mind, Draco and I need to speak privately. I'll meet you both in our compartment later."

Astoria's friends looked at each other and then headed out. Then, she turned to Draco and smiled wearily.

"What in the _world_ is wrong with your _pathetic_ mind that you have to go to the _extent_ of _fabricating_ false alliances?" bellowed Draco, all his fury coming forth.

Astoria closed her eyes. "Calm down. I was just trying to have some fun here but you took everything too seriously. Even when that Granger girl came in. You suddenly became more uptight."

"Leave Hermione out of this conversation! It's not worth discussing about her. Just stop this thing, whatever it is, you're trying to do. Whether it is trying to impress your friends or what, I don't want to get involved. Go brew some other plan to execute."

Draco stared at Astoria. She flinched at his steady, unwavering gaze and rose slowly. "I guess I'll leave you, then."

She opened the compartment door and stepped out. "By the way, it would do you good to take things easy instead of being too serious. The war is over. Relax."

She shut the door close behind her with a snap and Draco slumped in his seat. He didn't know why he was getting so worked up over this little thing. Many girls in Slytherin liked to fancy themselves as possible candidates to be his _wife_ but he had never paid much attention to it. Something wasn't right with him today.

"Perhaps," he mumbled to himself, "what I need is to just rest."

As Draco lay down on the long seat, he thought back to Hermione. Why did she come to his compartment? His eyelids felt heavy and before he knew it, he had slowly drifted off to a restless sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is a bit shorter. But anyway, thank you so much for the support and I do hope you continue to enjoy reading this!  
**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

" – ione! Hermione!"

Hermione looked up in a daze to find Ron and Harry staring curiously at her.

"Ah, sorry," said Hermione. "What were you saying again?"

She gulped uneasily. Her thoughts were on Draco. Much earlier when she had gone over to his compartment, the last people she had expected to see were his _female __juniors_ with him. Moreover, Astoria Greengrass was going to be his _wife_? It sounded absolutely ridiculous for things like _betrothal_ to exist in this present day and age.

And the last thing she wanted was for Harry and Ron to find out that the reason she was so distracted was because of him. Hermione did her best to look not guilty.

"Well, we were asking you if you knew who the Head Boy and the Head Girl were for this year."

"Oh!" exclaimed Hermione. "No, I don't. But I heard that there was going to be two students who would be in-charge of the eighth-years."

"Two students?" repeated Ron incredulously. "Whatever for when we're all in different houses?"

"But _that's_ the thing, Ron. Professor McGonagall did mention in her letter that there would be something different in store for us this year. She didn't say _what_ it was but only that more information would be given during the Sorting Feast," said Hermione in a very matter-of-fact way.

"And you seemed to have memorized McGonagall's letter, Granger."

The trio jumped at the new voice. Harry and Ron drew their wands out. Hermione, however, remained unarmed in her seat and coolly glanced at the figure by the compartment door.

"Yes, Malfoy?" asked Hermione calmly.

"You sounded like you memorized McGonagall 's letter," repeated Malfoy.

_A __little __too __persistent, __huh_, thought Hermione amusedly. But quite obviously, Harry and Ron thought that he was trying to make fun of her and looked like they were about to cast the most potent spells they could come up with. _Especially __Ron_, thought Hermione. He looked positively livid.

"Thank you for noticing how well I remember things without having the need to memorize them," said Hermione. "Now, _what_?"

"Relax, Hermione," drawled Draco lazily. "You – "

"Did you just call her Hermione?" interrupted Ron in an incredulous voice.

"No, Weasley, I called her Crookshanks."

"Since when do you call her Hermione? And how do _you_ know about Crookshanks?"

"That's her name, isn't it? And perhaps if you spent less of your time eating and more time paying attention to what goes around you, you'd be able to gather little bits of information about people."

Hermione had been watching Ron and Draco silently. She didn't quite mind Draco addressing her by her first name but it would take some time to get used to it. As for the matter about Crookshanks, what Hermione could gather from it was that Draco Malfoy was exceptionally observant. Noticing that Ron looked ready to curse Draco, she quickly stood up and went to the door.

"I'll handle it, Ronald," she said as she moved forward, causing Draco to stand back as she closed the compartment door behind her.

"Really, now. What is it?" asked Hermione impatiently.

Draco stared back blankly at her. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

"I don't understand what you're trying to get at," said Hermione, annoyed. "If you're just looking to have someone to tease, I suggest you – "

"Listen to me, first," said Draco. "Why did you come to my compartment earlier?"

"Ah."

"Ah? Is that your explanation? Because I daresay it sounds quite incomprehensible."

"There are a lot of thoughts behind that one syllable."

"And would you care to share the thoughts that produced such a monosyllabic sound?"

"You're really chatty, aren't you?"

"So you were thinking about me?"

"No way! Why would you even cross my mind?" replied Hermione indignantly. "I was thinking about the reason why I went to your compart-"

"Aha! There, you were thinking about me, weren't you?" countered Draco.

"Whatever you say, Malfoy! All I was going to ask you then was if you wanted to join us. That's all!"

Draco was stunned for a moment. That wasn't even what he had imagined to be the reason for Hermione coming over. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Even though I'm your enemy?"

"We are not enemies anymore, Draco. You know that as well as I do."

"What do Potter and Weasel think of me?"

"I've got no clue but I'm sure Harry's willing to start anew."

"Is he?"

"I believe he is. How about you?"

Draco shook his head. "I'm not sure yet."

"Is that so?"

"I mean, it'd be nice…"

"I'd better go back now. See you."

Hermione turned around and opened the door. She glanced back at Draco who was looking thoughtful. She stepped into the compartment and shut the door just in time to see Draco heading towards his compartment.

"Hermione, what was that all about?"

"It's nothing you should worry about, Harry."

"But that was _Malfoy_!"

"Ron, people change."

"Poisonous toadstools don't change – "

" – their spots. Yeah, I know that. You've said it so many times but haven't you considered the possibility that Draco did what he did because of the upbringing he had?"

Both Harry and Ron were silent. The look on Harry's face told Hermione that he knew she was right but reluctant to try and accept Draco. Ron, however, had a completely distrustful look and his eyebrows were scrunched into a stubborn expression. _Seriously_, thought Hermione, _Ronald __is __so __inflexible __in __his __way __of __thinking. __It__'__d __probably __take _so _much __effort __to __convince __him __to __give __Draco __another __chance_.

"I just don't like the fact that he talks to you."

"Stop being unreasonable, Ron."

"It's Malfoy!"

"And he's perfectly entitled to talk to me just like everyone."

"Ron, I think Hermione is right," said Harry cautiously. "I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"Thank you, Harry!"

"So now you're supporting her, then? Thanks a lot, mate."

Ron turned away from the other two and stared glumly out of the window. No amount of persuasion from his two best friends could change his mood and an awkward air hung about them as the train continued on towards Hogwarts. Hermione's attention slid away and she found herself wishing that the train would speed up and reach Hogwarts quickly. Once everyone was absorbed in the daily hustle and bustle of school life, there would be no time to argue about mundane things.

Right?


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks so much for the support! Personally, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! :D And I'm not sure when I will upload next. I'm sending my tablet in for repair so... that's why I'm uploading this one :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

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Draco got off the train and slowly followed the rest of the students, now dressed in school robes, to the awaiting carriages. As usual, Hagrid was calling out to the First Years to follow him. Draco felt a lingering dislike towards Hagrid but pushed it to the side. He watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione waved cheerfully at Hagrid. He shook his head, not quite comprehending what they saw in him.

A vague memory of his first year flitted past his eyes as he recalled how Harry had rejected his offer of friendship. _But __perhaps_, thought Draco, _it __was __a __good __thing __he __did __that __or __he __might __not __have __been __the __Saintly __One__… __wait, __I __can__'__t __believe __I__'__m __thinking __about __Potter! __Imagine __if __Mother __knew__… __she__'__d __say __that __I__'__m __turning __into __a __saint, __too!_

Draco shook his head and turned his focus back to what was happening. Students were scrambling together and trying to get into the carriages. And those pale _things_. Were they Thestrals? They looked eerie but didn't seem to want to do any harm to the students. He waited patiently as the group of students before him got into a carriage. Then steadying himself, he hauled himself up into the next available carriage only to find that it was occupied. And he was not just about to leave.

"M… Malfoy?"

"Yes, it's me, Longbottom."

"Interesting company you are going to be, Draco Malfoy."

"Is that so, Lovegood? Then I _should_ leave this carriage," said Draco as made a move to stand up.

"No, stay! There are flitterwings outside that might interfere with your memory," said Luna, waving her hands.

"Flitterwings? What are they?"

"They're tiny and invisible but resemble dragonflies. They are a new breed of creatures that came into existence after the war. If they enter your head, you will begin to be prone to memory loss."

"I don't believe you! What rubbish!"

"Don't think too much about it, Malfoy. Luna's got plenty of information on other creatures that you've probably never heard of," offered Neville.

"You should read the _Quibbler_," said Luna as she passed a copy to Draco.

"Gryffindors," he muttered under his breath. He glanced at the cover of the magazine before squashing it into his overnight case.

"Luna's – " began Neville.

"I'm in Ravenclaw," said Luna loudly.

"Ah, the house for the intelligent who lack cunning or bravery," replied Draco, smirking.

"That's a very loose way of putting it," replied Luna airily.

"Loose way of putting what?"

The trio turned to look at the newcomer. Draco stared, aghast, at the new additions to the carriage while Neville and Luna warmly embraced them.

"Not you again," said Ron in frustration. "Just when our moods were getting better."

"You mean _your_ mood," corrected Hermione.

"Either way," interrupted Harry, "the carriage is already moving off so Malfoy can't leave."

"What a pity," muttered Ron as he looked away from Draco.

"Ronald!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Save it, Hermione."

"So what were you guys talking about?" asked Harry in an attempt to move the focus away from Draco.

"Draco was describing the type of people Ravenclaws are," said Luna clearly.

"And how was it? Since you're from Ravenclaw, after all."

"Simply insightful. It does show the lack of exposure of snobbish, pureblood families."

"We're not snobbish!" shouted Malfoy furiously.

"Shut up, Malfoy! You are and always will be!" yelled Ron back at him.

"Now you're one to talk Weasley! Can't even sit in the same carriage as me without blowing your head off! Humongous pride you have there!"

Ron's ears turned scarlet. "You'll pay for this one day, Malfoy!"

"I shall look forward to it."

"Right, so, has anyone heard about the new changes for our batch?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"Nope. Other than the letter that McGonagall sent us, nothing else has been revealed," said Neville with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I really want to know what it's going to be!"

"Patience, Granger. We're already here," drawled Draco who was secretly amused at how curious and impatient the bushy-haired bookworm could be.

And soon enough, the carriage doors opened. Harry alighted first, followed by Ron who looked like he couldn't wait to be away from Draco, then Luna, Neville, Hermione and himself. As he got off the carriage, he looked back inside to make sure that nothing had been left behind. He was about to turn away when a faint outline of something thin and long became visible. He hopped up and grabbed it. As he got back out again, if examined it against the moonlight. It was the hawthorn wand. _His_ wand. But now _Hermione's_ wand. He thought of keeping it and not letting Hermione know. But somehow, before he could help it, he called out, "Granger!"

Hermione whipped around at the sound of her name. At the same time, Ron turned and shouted, "What do you want with her?"

Draco's eyebrows raised in surprise. He knew that a little jealousy was normal but to _this_ extent? Draco was pretty sure that Ron's possessiveness was suffocating for Hermione because she had a rather strangled expression on her face. _Are __those __two_ really _in __a __relationship? __The __feelings __don't __look __mutual_, thought Draco.

"I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend, Weasley," remarked Draco coldly. Then to Hermione, he said, "You left your wand in the carriage."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock and she quickly snatched the wand away from Draco. She looked at it for a second before tucking it back into her robes and patting her pocket to make sure it was there.

"Easy, Granger. It's yours."

"Thanks," mumbled Hermione as she turned away and hurried forward.

"You're surprisingly nice, aren't you, Draco Malfoy," said Luna from behind Draco.

Draco spun around and stared blankly at Luna, not knowing what to say.

"Or is it just because it's Hermione?" wondered Luna aloud.

Draco's eyes widened when he heard Luna say that. It wasn't something he had expected to hear.

"No way!" replied Draco quickly. "I'm nicer to everyone now."

"Including Ron?"

"Certainly. If I was like the way I was before, I'd have hexed him by now!"

"Mhmm, whatever you say, Draco Malfoy."

"It's true!"

But Luna had already walked off with the _Quibbler_ turned upside down. Draco sighed, irritated. He was trying to be nice to the very people he had always held grudges against. Yet, here was a weird girl with carrots dangling from her ears, reading a dubious publication upside down and telling him something that was utter rubbish! Draco glared up at the tall castle before him. He was determined to make sure that what Luna had said would be a complete fiction of her imagination.

"Draco!"

Draco felt a shiver run down his spine. It was Astoria's voice.

"Come sit with us during the feast," said Astoria as she sidled over to Draco and hooked her arm through his.

But Draco wasn't paying attention to her. Instead, his attention was caught by the little scene in front of him. "Eh," mumbled Draco as he watched Ron put his arm around Hermione's shoulder.

After a short while, Hermione casually shrugged Ron's arms off her shoulder and walked forward to talk to Harry who was in a conversation with Luna. Draco felt a fleeting but mean gladness that Hermione had rejected Ron's advances. _Take that, Weasley_, thought Draco.

"Awesome," he muttered.

"Aw, Draco, I knew you wouldn't mind sitting with us!" gushed Astoria elatedly.

Draco groaned inwardly. He wasn't in the mood to entertain Astoria's nonsense. He pursed his lips and let himself be dragged towards the Great Hall while Astoria continued chattering incessantly as his thoughts turned back to what was happening before Astoria accosted him.

Luna was wrong, wasn't she?


	10. Chapter 10

**Well, on we go! ;D Thank you so much for your support! :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

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"Ronald!"

Ron looked up and stared, dumbfounded, at Hermione. "What?"

"Will you please stop eating?"

Ron just paused in the middle of chewing the flesh he had greedily torn off a chicken drumstick. "Huh?"

Harry slowly prised the drumstick out of Ron's hand and placed it on Ron's plate. "All right there, mate?"

"Yeah, yeah, I am…" mumbled Ron as the look on his face clearly showed that he still couldn't figure out what was going on.

"We need to leave the hall," continued Hermione, who was looking thoroughly annoyed. "Let's go."

"What, now? But I'm not even done with my meal!"

"You've had plenty to eat already! I'm sure your stomach could do with a little less food tonight!"

Ron glared at Hermione and stood up quickly. "Bossing me around now that you're the _representative_."

Ron had said the last word with so much distaste that Hermione flinched. She coloured slightly at his accusation and stood up, facing him boldly.

"Being a Rep doesn't change the fact that we need to head back to the dormitory now, Ronald. Look, even Draco is so quietly going, too!"

Ron turned around and saw the pale blonde boy walking towards the doors at the back of the hall with a rather frivolous girl who was hanging onto him.

"Bringing that nasty brat into the story now, are we?"

"Ron, I'm just showing you how your _school enemy_ is more responsible than you are."

"Yeah," raged Ron, "siding him now just because he is your _partner_, huh, Hermione? Shows pretty clearly which side you're on!"

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Hermione, outraged. "That boy has changed! How many times do I have to tell you! He's just quite stiff around all of us! That's all!"

"Whatever you say."

Hermione looked pleadingly at Harry who just sighed and made a motion to tell Hermione not to carry on. He began walking towards the doors and Hermione quickly followed after, with Ron trailing sulkily after them.

When they entered the Gryffindor common room, Ron wordlessly headed up to the room specially added for the Eighth Years. Hermione and Harry stopped in shock and looked at each other. That was some big sulking on Ron's side.

"What's wrong with him, Harry?"

"I have no idea, Hermione."

"He never used to be like this…"

"He _has_ been like this."

"No, except for last year when he…"

Hermione stopped mid-sentence as the memory of that incident came back to her mind. It was when the three of them were camping in the middle of the woods and Ron had abandoned them. Harry, sensing his best friend's line of thoughts, put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her tightly.

"Perhaps, he's just going through puberty."

"Puberty? Harry, shouldn't he be past that stage?"

"Well, he rightfully should…"

"And you weren't like him at any point of time. Except for the fifth year when you were having those terrible mood swings."

"Yeah, it was horrible back then."

"At least you let your thoughts out instead of bottling up. Ron doesn't even let us know what's on his mind! And then, all of a sudden, he blows up!"

Harry smiled at Hermione who had a frown forming on her face. He poked her forehead at the point where her brows met and was instantly rewarded with a large grin.

"Smile, Hermione. Don't let him take the light out of you!"

Hermione grinned, happy at how Harry was always able to make her feel good.

"I'm so proud of you, Hermione. Being the Eighth Year Rep and all – such a great thing! It's almost akin to being the Head Girl!"

"Oh, Harry," said Hermione as she punched her best friend playfully. "You think too highly of me."

"And I always will be doing just that." Harry smiled at Hermione. "Goodnight, I think I need to get some sleep."

"Sleep well."

Hermione watched as Harry walked away in the same direction as Ron. When he was out of sight, she looked around her and realised that she did not feel one bit sleepy at all. _Time for a night-time jaunt_, she thought. She quietly slipped out of the common room and headed down the stairs. Then, not quite knowing where she ought to go, she closed her eyes, turned around three times and began walking in the direction she was facing.

She felt strange pull around the corner and when she turned, she found herself facing a blank wall. That area was dark and she couldn't quite make out the engravings on the wall. She slowly raised her hand and gently touched the stone cold wall. She moved her hand down and felt a handle and turned it. The door opened slowly and Hermione stepped inside, her curiosity pique and all other senses frozen.

She couldn't see anything around her except a faint glow that was coming from further down. She moved towards what she thought was a light source but only to find a mirror. It stood opposing. Hermione scrutinised the fine engravings on the top of the mirror.

_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

Hermione couldn't figure out what it meant. She turned back to look at the mirror and gasped at what she saw. She was walking arm-in-arm with Harry and Draco. She turned around, scared for a moment that she was in a nightmare. But there was nothing. Nothing else, just her and the mirror. She looked at the mirror again and tried looking for Ron but he wasn't there. _Strange_, thought Hermione.

"_Homenum revelio_," whispered Hermione, holding her wand in front of her.

But nothing happened. She tried a number of other spells that would reveal any dark magic but nothing happened at all. Very slowly, large words started forming on the mirror. Hermione's eyes widened in horror. This wasn't some form of evil, right?

_Hermione Granger, you have a very kind heart._

"Where's Ron?" wondered Hermione aloud as she looked at the mirror.

_Look at the engravings on the top. That's the clue._

Hermione looked at the engravings once more but still couldn't figure out what they meant. She was about to say something else when she stopped in her tracks. She was talking to a mirror which replied back! Hermione broke out in cold sweat and she ran back towards the door at the back. She breathed heavily as she got out and quickly made her way back to less deserted routes and to the Gryffindor common room.

She was definitely not going to tell anyone what had happened.


	11. Chapter 11

_****_**Okay, the next few chapters might be familiar to some of you because those were what I initially had. But enjoy it and thanks for the support as always! :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

The next morning, Draco made his way to the Great Hall early before Astoria could catch hold of him and drag him into one of her nonsensical plans. He sat at the Slytherin table, isolated from the one or two early-risers. Helping himself to some toast and raspberry jam – sadly, no blueberry jam because raspberry was Dumbledore's favourite flavour of jam – he slowly took in his surroundings and his eyes came to rest on very interesting specimens.

Draco observed the way Hermione was sitting so primly at the Gryffindor table, not without Harry and Ron. The trio was quiet this morning. The blow-up between Hermione and Ron last night probably made things awkward between all of them. Draco amused himself by imagining what was going through all their minds.

Perhaps, Hermione refused to speak to Ron because she felt that he was being unbelievably childish and sensitive over such a small issue. Ron, on the other hand, probably thought that Hermione ought to apologise first since she was the one who started it all. And Harry, Draco supposed, couldn't help but just thinking about how those two had nearly been in a relationship. Most likely, it was Harry's thoughtful face which caused Ron to decide that his little strife with Hermione was far less important that his close friendship with The Boy Who Never Seemed to Die. Draco strained his ears when he saw that Ron was going to say something.

"What's up, mate?"

Harry looked at Ron. He gave a small smile and shook his head. "Nah, just thinking about things."

"Don't think too much like Hermione. Be like me," said Ron as he stuffed a croissant into his mouth.

"Ron," snapped Hermione, "not everyone is like you. There are _some_ of us who sit around and idle while there are others who _reflect_."

"Come on, Hermione. Don't tell me you're taking Harry's side?" asked Ron, visibly upset.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. She grabbed a raisin bun and got up so abruptly that a goblet of pumpkin juice spilled on Ron. Without a glance back, she stalked off to the library.

"I don't understand her!"

Harry sighed, yet again. "Perhaps you shouldn't say anything that provokes Hermione."

Ron's ears turned red. "Wow, now you're taking her side. It was just like last night. You were just sitting on the damned fence! Thanks for being my _best friend_."

As Ron got up from the seat, wiping the pumpkin juice on a napkin, Harry hurriedly cut in.

"Ron, I'm just being very objective in this situation."

"Harry, I know you think I'm the biggest idiot alive –"

"Ron, I – "

"Shut up."

Ron threw the napkin onto the table and stomped out of the hall.

Harry slumped onto the table. Draco looked around the Great Hall. Luckily, it was still pretty early in the morning as there were only very few people in the hall and they hadn't noticed anything. _What a start to the week_, thought Draco. It was like the fourth year incident all over again when Ron had gotten so jealous of Harry and Harry only had Hermione to talk to.

"What's wrong?"

Draco flinched at Harry's sigh. It was obvious that he was tensed whenever he heard Draco's voice. Draco planted himself next to Harry and waited expectantly.

"I'm sure," began Harry, "that you don't want to get involved in the problems of your ex-enemy."

Draco smirked. "On the contrary, I was thinking we could start over again and hopefully be friends."

He watched as Harry jerked up in surprise. It was something new. Sure, he was no longer enemies with Harry but becoming friends _might_ be a little too fast.

"Well," Harry said slowly, "we could try."

"You are so kind, you know? I believe they say you are like your mother in that sense."

Draco felt surprised that such a compliment slipped out from him. He had intended to be all cool about being friends with Harry but the last thing he wanted to say was something which sounded so Hufflepuff-ish.

"Why are you so nice suddenly? Are you planning something?" asked Harry suspiciously.

It was Draco's turn to sigh. "I'm different from how I used to be. I'm on your side, remember?"

Draco watched as various emotions flashed past Harry's face in a split second. He was probably having a series of recollections of all the times he had been mean to them. A tiny sense of guilt emerged but Draco quickly squashed it.

"Yeah, I do."

Draco remained silent, waiting for Harry to tell him what happened between him, Hermione and Ron.

Harry gave in after a few minutes. "All right, then. Ron is mad that I, supposedly, took Hermione's side and wanted me to side with him. But honestly, Ron was a bit too much."

Draco raised an eyebrow in surprise. "He stomped off because of such a small thing?"

Harry sighed for the fourth time in the morning and got up. "It's a continuation from yesterday's little tiff. You can get the full story from Hermione. I'm going after Ron. See you in potions."

Draco nodded and stood up. Harry and Draco walked alongside out of the hall and parted ways. Harry headed off in the direction towards the Gryffindor tower while Draco found himself not knowing where to go. He cursed himself silently for not asking where Hermione was. A sudden realisation struck his mind. Hermione was always in the library even if it was for a short while before lessons. He headed up the stairs and thought back to the events that had happened.

The last thing he would have imagined would be that one day he would be on friendlier terms with the trio. He would have never thought that on a morning before potions he would be trudging off to find Granger in the library to get a recount on an incident that didn't involve him. Perhaps, they were beginning to trust him a bit more now that they knew more about the kind of person he really was deep down.

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	12. Chapter 12

_****_**This is a way shorter chapter but it shows Harry's POV. Enjoy :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Harry climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor tower two at a time. He never quite understood why Ron would purposely use Hermione as the 'bad' example, indirectly provoking her especially when she was already in a bad mood. But nothing was ever obvious to Ron. He was always oblivious about everything that had to do with Hermione.

Harry knew exactly why that was so but had never got around to mentioning it to Ron. Hermione was always with them since their first year and she ended up camouflaging against them. Harry, however, had always been consciously aware of Hermione as a girl – he loved her like a sister. But when it came to Ron, it was an entirely different issue.

For the first few years, Ron was subconsciously aware that Hermione was a girl but he only saw her as a 'best friend'. Not a 'girl best friend'. This went on till the Yule Ball back in their fourth year and Hermione's feminine charms were highlighted. Even then, when the whole 'You-should-have-asked-me-to-the-ball-before-someone-else-did-and-not-as-a-last-resort' fiasco had ended, Ron never really was very aware of Hermione till they reached their sixth year. Sure, he did show some signs of jealousy whenever Hermione was corresponding with her little crush back in their fifth year, international Quidditch player Viktor Krum. But all these passed as the hectic days went by.

Though Hermione and Ron had been having a more intimate _relationship_ the previous year, they seemed to have drifted a bit further now – or so, Harry perceived. He sighed. He glanced at his reflection on the shiny, polished floor. There ought to be a huge grin plastered onto his face, not furrowed brows and a worried expression. He came up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She yawned as she looked at Harry and took a sip of wine.

"Boiled bubotuber pus."

The Fat Lady eyed Harry. "Back so soon? Did you not just go down?" she asked nosily.

"Why are you drinking wine so early in the day?" countered Harry.

The Fat Lady sniffed. "I don't think that has anything to do with you."

"Likewise. Boiled bubotuber pus."

She looked at Harry and swung forward with a reluctant "Hmph".

He entered the common room and looked around. Ron was nowhere in sight. He traipsed up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He opened the door quietly and saw Ron seated on his bed staring at something on his bedside table. Harry moved closer and saw a photo frame with a moving picture of the three of them – Harry, Ron and Hermione – grinning widely. The background reminded Harry vaguely of the Burrow. He then realized that it had been taken back when they were fourteen years-old.

Harry had never actually entertained the thought about Ron's sentimental side. Looking at his best friend hunched over, Harry went over and sat down next to him, placing an arm around Ron's shoulders. Ron jumped in surprise. When he saw who it was, he tried removing Harry's arm and pushing Harry onto the floor.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" bellowed Ron furiously.

"Ron, I –" began Harry but was cut off by Ron.

"You know, I'd rather have Malfoy talk to me now."

Anger shot through Harry as he concentrated hard, quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron. With a bang, Ron was floating in the air and struggling hard to come down.

"OI!" yelled Ron. "You did that Prince's spell, didn't you? Get me down!"

"It's Snape's spell – stop referring to him as 'Prince'."

"Whatever. Get me down!"

"Not till you've listened to what I say," said Harry firmly as he perched on the edge of Ron's bed.

"Go on then, I can feel my stomach churning."

Harry made a face. "Ron, do you actually observe Hermione at all?"

"Yeah, she was staring into space earlier, wasn't she?"

"She was in a pretty bad mood, Ron. Not in a mood to joke around."

Ron sulked. "Seems like someone actually looks at her quite a lot, eh?"

"Ron –"

"And sees things which her _boyfriend_ doesn't."

"You aren't her boyfriend, Ron! Get a grip on what's happening," said Harry, massaging his temples.

"I am."

"You aren't. Hermione never said it aloud or anything."

"We've held hands, sno–"

"She's done all that with Krum before. Does that make Krum her boyfriend?"

Ron grinded his teeth with annoyance. "Is this what you wanted to tell me, Harry? If it is, don't waste your breath on it any longer. I'M NOT INTERESTED IN HERMIONE AND KRUM!"

Harry smothered a sigh. "You're missing the point here, Ron. What I'm trying to get you to do is to notice Hermione's feelings. Be aware of them, _like how I am_."

"Like how you are," Ron repeated.

"I guess you _never_ noticed but Hermione and I get along very well. Better than the two of you alone."

Ron grunted in disagreement. But Harry did not give him a chance to say anything.

"Ron, I love you."

A light brown mixture which smelled distinctly like vomit came splashing down onto the dormitory floor. Harry covered his nose and looked at Ron who was bright red in the face and clutching his stomach tightly.

"As a best friend and brother. _Liberacorpus_."


	13. Chapter 13

_****_**The next chapter~! Hehe :)**

**To BlueberryPapercuts and ZeBarmyBookworm, it's dearest Harry :3**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione was sitting down at the long table against the wall in near the farthest shelves that were right at the back of the library. She was pouring over a thick tome which she was aiming to finish within two days. She chose a secluded area so that she wouldn't be disturbed by anyone, including Harry and Ron.

A sigh brought her back to reality. Hermione's head snapped up and her dazed gaze – the kind that one has after emerging from the depths of a particularly interesting novel – immediately changed into one of shock. Draco Malfoy was sitting in front of her and watching her with a guarded expression.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a curious note in her voice. "Shouldn't you be heading to class?"

Draco smiled serenely. "Nah, I wanted to ask you something."

"You, a _pureblood_, want to ask me, a _mudblood_, something?" repeated Hermione, taken aback.

Hermione noticed how uneasy Draco had looked when she mentioned the word 'mudblood'. It was almost as if he disliked that word. Hermione narrowed her eyes. This was Draco Malfoy she was dealing with. Though she had to admit that he _did_ change somewhat after what she had witnessed during the past events, he still had his trademark smirk. Not forgetting, that slightly high-and-mighty air about him – as if the whole world ought to bow down to him for changing sides at the last moment and sparing Harry Potter's life in the Room of Requirement.

_I'm reading too much into him_, thought Hermione. She shuddered. She just could not figure out how Draco's mind worked. Going by the rules of society, someone in Draco's position _should_ be more humble since his father used to be a Death Eater and the entire family had been graciously pardoned since they changed sides at the very last moment.

"Well," began Draco slowly, "I noticed that you, er, Harry and Weasley were having a little tiff."

Hermione glared. "Come to have a good laugh, have you? Seems like nothing has really changed after all."

Draco tilted his head to the side. "I'm not even done with what I wanted to say."

"Go on."

"Harry asked me to ask you about the details."

"And exactly why would he do that?"

"Because he was rushing off to go after Weasel and could not elaborate more."

Hermione stared at Draco. "Ever since when have you and Harry become so _chummy_ that you even talk about him using a first-name basis?"

Draco gave an exasperated look. "I don't want to call him Potter. Neither do I want to call him Harry. But when I talk about him, I need to give him a name, right?"

"So?"

"So I decided on Harry because it sounds gentler and less distant!"

"Gentler?"

"I guess."

Hermione considered this for a moment. There seemed to be some amount of truth in what he had said. She had noticed that whenever Draco and Harry were talking, neither one would address each other by name. In fact, when they wanted to say something, they just tapped the other and said 'Hey'.

"So how about Ron and me?"

"What about you guys?" he asked, puzzled. "Wait, are the two of you a couple?"

"Wrong. But moving on, what I wanted to know was how you plan to address Ron and me."

Draco smiled. "Tell me more about you and the Weasel. I could drop Rita Skeeter a snippet of juicy news."

"That foul-mouthed creature is still around?" asked Hermione in surprise as a chill ran down her spine. "Nah, you're not close enough to enter my privy world."

Draco made a face. "I'm going to try to get in!"

"Try harder. So. The answer to my question."

"Ah, yes. I don't really want to know Weasley more so I guess I'll just call him Weasley," paused Draco as the bell rang, signalling the start of the first lesson.

Hermione jumped up, shut the book and jammed it into the shelf in frustration. "It's your fault we're late. And worst, first lesson is potions."

"Potions is with Slughorn. Have you forgotten?" asked Draco as he tailed closely behind Hermione who was walking off at top speed.

"Forgotten what?" countered Hermione as she rounded a banister.

There was a dull thwack and a yelp of pain. Hermione stopped midway and looked back up. Draco was bent double and clutching his stomach. Hermione raced back up and gently placed an arm on his shoulder.

"Damned banister," cursed Draco as he tried to move out of Hermione's touch.

"You alright?" she asked.

"No. Let's go."

Draco made his way down at speed astonishing for someone who was in pain. Hermione raced after him, annoyed that she had stopped to check on him because he was not one bit thankful about it.

"So what have I forgotten?" she asked, panting as she caught up with him.

"You don't have to rush to class because... it's not Snape."

Hermione stared at Draco, annoyed. "If you need to know, I was there when Snape was killed by Voldemort."

She was a little taken aback when the expression on his face altered. He had a slightly pained expression on his face. Hermione seemed to figure out what he was thinking about. "Hey, I'm sorry."

Draco shook his head bravely. "No matter. It's all over now."

They reached the classroom to find that everyone else seated, listening to Professor Slughorn talking about a Sleeping Draught. He stopped when they entered and raised his eyebrows at the unlikely pairing. Ron and Harry were already there and Ron was looking very suspiciously at Draco and Hermione.

"Sorry for – " began Hermione.

" – being late, Professor," Draco cut in and he made his way to a table at the furthest end of the classroom.

Seeing that the only seat left was next to Draco, Hermione sullenly followed him and sat down. Professor Slughorn nodded serenely and tapped the blackboard.

"That's all right, dears. Now, please follow the instructions I've written on the board and refer to your Potions book. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

With that, he made his way towards Draco and Hermione. Hermione's hand was already in the air and she was looking very expectantly at Slughorn.

"Now, my dear, how may I help you?" he asked, giving a smile he reserved especially for the smartest student in his class.

"Sir, could you please tell me what you had been saying to the class before I arrived? I'm so sorry about it," said Hermione apologetically.

Hermione hoped that Draco had noticed how she had excluded him from her question. Instead of 'us' and 'we', she used 'me' and 'I'. Draco gave a small noise of annoyance. Professor Slughorn seemed to have heard it because his eyes flickered towards Draco and he looked back at Hermione.

"Well," began Slughorn, "since _both_ of you weren't here, I'll let you both know. I was merely giving a brief history on Sleeping Draughts, their uses, effects and administration. It's merely a repeat of the introduction in your Potions book which I'm sure both of you, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, must have read in advance."

Hermione gave a proud nod. "Yes, sir. Thank you for telling _us_."

Draco merely nodded and mumbled something as he took his book out of his bag. Slughorn had never ever given him any preferential treatment or invited him to one of his Slug Club parties unlike how he treated Hermione. It was safe to say that perhaps that was what Draco had envied Hermione for – being noticed, not that he was that eager to attend any party.

"Don't just stare at your book. Help me with this. Thin slices," snapped Hermione as she pushed a bundle of roots to Draco.

"What? Why should I help you?" he asked, sneering.

Hermione pointed at the blackboard impatiently. "In case you've yet to notice, the Sleeping Draught is supposed to be done in pairs. As neither one of us have a partner to work with for this, it's obvious that we have to do this together."

Draco flushed a teensy bit with embarrassment. He had let his previous dislike for Hermione get the better of him and she had, in the end, highlighted a stupid mistake he made. He grunted and rummaged through his cauldron for a knife and began slicing up the roots.

"You know, I'm going to call you Hermione Granger from now on," he said, changing the subject expertly.

"What a good idea, Draco Malfoy," she countered coolly as she smashed a lump of black matter. "Now, hurry up with those roots!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for the reviews and everything else :) I hope this chapter will be equally well-received!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

It was almost the end of class and everyone had been told to stop brewing their potions. Draco used the ladle to scoop a considerable sample of the Sleeping Draught into a flask. Hermione busied herself with clearing the table and wiping up any remnants. Once Draco had placed the flagon on Slughorn's table, he moved on to clearing the contents of the cauldron and cleaning the utensils. The two worked in silence until they had completed.

Hermione knew, deep down, that Draco was excellent at potion-making and it was so easy to work with him. Unlike Ron, he didn't waste ingredients and was extremely careful while handling everything which made the clean-up session hassle-free. Moreover, she noticed how they seemed to be able to know what the other was going to do. In fact, if she had remembered clearly, this would be described as working in tandem.

She shifted his attention to what was happening in the classroom. Slughorn was doing a tiny recap of the Sleeping Draught and had begun to ask questions. Hermione sat up straighter, staring directly at Slughorn and looking very prim and proper. She sense Draco trembling slightly and when she looked at him, his face was red with trying to hold himself from laughing. She felt her cheeks colour slightly but chose to ignore it.

"What is the most essential ingredient in making this potion?" asked Slughorn and looked expectantly at the class.

Hermione was bouncing in her seat eagerly. She was always ready to answer any question and every question. It probably felt very uncomfortable to have someone sitting close and fidgeting heavily but Hermione couldn't care less. Her brain cells were going into an overdrive and she really needed an outlet.

"Psst, can you stop bouncing?" he whispered, annoyed.

Hermione shot him a death glare like as if he was about to ruin her opportunity to ace potions. Draco rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" asked Slughorn cheerfully, clearly not sharing similar sentiments with Draco.

As Hermione rattled her answer off top speed, Slughorn was looking exceptionally pleased to see that she had, once again, lived up to his expectations of being undeniably intelligent.

"Thank you so much, Ms Granger. Twenty points to Gryffindor for sharing your knowledge with the class," he smiled as Hermione beamed proudly. "It is a very charitable thing to do – sharing your knowledge, that is."

Hermione turned and looked rather proudly at Draco. She gave him a superior smile and turned back to the front, with her nose slightly higher up in the air.

Draco snorted inwardly and grimaced. _Charitable to share knowledge? What kind of weird logic was that_, he thought bitterly. Though he knew that he was only feeling this way because he saw himself to be as smart as Hermione, he refused to acknowledge that thought and pushed it away. Through his peripheral vision, he saw that Hermione had turned to look at him as if she had heard him make a sound of disdain. He quickly averted his face and pretended to look interested in his set of scales.

"It's not called a charitable act, Hermione Granger. It's called the pollution of the mind."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and turned back towards the front.

"Say something."

"What, Draco Malfoy?"

"Nothing, Hermione Granger. That's why I was talking to you."

"Oh, pshh, would you just keep quiet if you have nothing nice to say?"

"But I really wanted to talk, Hermione Granger."

"Stop calling me 'Hermione Granger'! It's ridiculously long and annoying."

"'Granger', then."

"'Hermione' is better."

"Then, I shall be 'Draco'."

"Not a problem. Now, would you please zip it?"

Draco's eyes widened. "Zip what? Hermione, you aren't trying to suggest something, are you?"

"Just shut your mouth. I want to hear what Professor Slughorn is saying."

But they only managed to catch Slughorn's dismissal in time and Hermione turned to glare at Draco. She stood up, grabbed her bag and made her way to Harry and Ron who were already waiting for her at the door. In the meantime, she was lost in her thoughts about today's experience.

Potions had never been Hermione's favourite lesson. But somehow, after today's whole fiasco in the morning, she had to admit that having Draco as potions partner was not as bad she would have imagined. He was definitely intelligent, though she did not want to bring herself to acknowledge it, and incredibly patient when it came to making the potion. In fact, if she was to summarise how Draco's attitude towards class was, she would say that he was exactly like her. The only difference between them would be that Draco used to taunt her, Harry and Ron during lessons. However, this time, he hardly did anything much but made a face when Professor Slughorn had praised her answer to a supposedly tricky question he had asked the class.

"– mione?"

Hermione looked up to see her two best friends staring at her curiously. She gave a small smile of reassurance.

"Hermione, why did you come into class with that git?" asked Ron with force.

"Ron!" exclaimed Harry. "He's not a git anymore."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Poisonous toadstools –"

" – don't change their spots. Yeah I know you've said that countless of times, Ron, but can't you try giving him a chance?" asked Harry exasperatedly.

"Looks like you've forgiven him really easily then. This side of you is usually attributed to your mom, isn't it? The kind, loving and selfless part."

Hermione was trying hard to, but she couldn't suppress a little giggle. "I can't believe you guys are arguing over Draco."

"Not over him, Hermione," corrected Ron. "About him."

"Ah, fancy witnessing Weasley correcting the little know-it-all."

The trio whipped around to see Draco smirking. They narrowed their eyes reflexively. Hermione was slightly miffed by the way Draco had addressed her but knew, at once, that he did it because he was still sulking over the praise she had received during potions. She felt a sense of satisfaction within her for knowing that she had beaten him this time.

"I feel so... honoured to know that you guys were arguing about me," continued Draco. "It seems as if I'm sorely missed by all."

Ron snorted. "Fat hope, Malfoy. Still haven't really gotten used to being civil, have you? Need to be a little snide before you can be blissful?" **(A/N: LOL, Blueberry Blissfuls, anyone?)**

Hermione had expected Draco to insert a little taunt or tease here and there so she decided to take his words lightly. In fact, it was amusing to see how Ron reacted to all his taunts and teases. Harry, though, was looking slightly offended – perhaps because Draco had called her a know-it-all. But honestly, she really did just know everything.

"Nice work today, Hermione," drawled Draco as he blatantly chose to ignore Ron.

"You too."

His eyes gleamed in amusement as he watched Ron's hand slip into his pocket and assumed that Ron was clutching his wand tightly in his hand, ready to hex him if he made another comment.

"So, I guess I'll be heading off to the common room," said Draco simply. "I'll see you guys around."

"Bloody hell!"

"Ronald!"

"Whatever."


	15. Chapter 15

**Well, next chapter is here! :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco headed straight for the Slytherin common room. As he entered the room, he noticed a small group of Slytherins, probably third-years, gathered near the notice board at the far end of the room. He walked over and looked above their heads. There was a sign in bright green announcing the date of the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

"What?" exclaimed Draco in shock.

The third-years turned around and, with frightened looks on their faces, scrambled away hurriedly from Draco. He ignored their looks and continued to stare at the notice. It seemed so unreal that there would be a Hogsmeade trip. Perhaps he felt that way because there was an unnaturally dull aura over the village last year – as Mouldy Voldy had been alive and nowhere was safe.

Hogsmeade would be different for him this year. He didn't really hang around with any of the Slytherins anymore. The only person who didn't mind his company was Blaise Zabini. But Blaise would only be arriving at Hogwarts the day after the Hogsmeade trip because he still had some family matters to settle. Draco sighed. He was finally able to bring himself to understand why Harry, Hermione and Ron were so close – their friendship was definitely real, not like the half-baked ones he had. Thank goodness Blaise was a really good friend.

A tapping noise broke Draco's thoughts as he looked towards the window. An owl was hovering outside with what looked like a roll of parchment tied to one leg. Draco quickly opened the window panel and let the owl in. It flapped its wings importantly and stood on one leg while stretching out the other. Draco quickly untied the letter. He noticed that the owl resembled the one Harry had owned – Hedder or Heidi or something, he couldn't recall. _But it died, didn't it_, Draco thought as he unfolded the letter. He was pleased to see that it was from Blaise.

_Dear Draco,_

_You can keep this owl. It has no owner and I'm sure it wouldn't mind being of use._

Draco stifled a laugh as he looked at the owl, which now stood with his chest puffed out.

_It's a she, by the way._

_Right_, thought Draco, _with _her_ chest puffed out_.

_You don't have to keep it if you don't want to. I just hope it gets a good owner._

_By the by, I'll probably arrive this coming Saturday instead of Sunday._

_So, Draco, how are things going at school? Without Crabbe and Goyle, do you feel lonely? Don't worry, I'll be there soon._

Draco coughed.

_So, you've been pals with the trio? You mentioned that you particularly enjoyed Hermione's company? So I guess you're getting used to mixing around with other people then. I hope you're no longer the snobbish little prince you used to be. Though, of course, I highly doubt you've stopped being princely. Don't worry, my friend, you're still as charming as you have always been and will always be, except that I will always surpass you in that aspect. In fact, I'd say that Hermione Granger isn't a bad choice for you. She's gorgeous, don't you agree? Her beautiful, large eyes and small, straight teeth –_

_By the mirror from Pomfrey_, thought Draco.

– _and long, brown, wavy hair. She's intelligent, smart and can probably hold much deeper conversations than the Pug. Oh yes, I've received news that Pansy is trying to get a job at the Ministry. She hasn't gotten over you. I bet if she could, she would have repeated the seventh year again._

"Thank goodness her parents didn't let her," thought Draco aloud.

_Back to Hermione. What do you think, Draco?_

_Send the trio, especially Hermione, my regards._

_Much sarcasm,  
Your best friend,  
Blaise_

_P.s. Draco, see you soon._

_What an odd postscript_, thought Draco, confused. Draco folded the letter and walked up to the boys' dormitory. The owl gave a hoot of alarm and followed him. Draco sighed and held out his arm. The owl perched gently on his arm. Meanwhile, Draco was silently cursing Blaise for not sealing the letter before sending it. What if somebody had intercepted the letter? What if someone else had seen the owl and let it in? It could've been read by anyone!

He tucked the letter under his bed and went back down again. Something had to be done with the owl.

"Snowflakes, that's a nice name," said Draco aloud as he stroked the owl.

It hooted appreciatively. Draco decided that he would give Snowflakes to Harry since Harry didn't have an owl and Draco had a beautiful eagle. Pleased that he was being _charitable_, Draco stepped out of the Slytherin common room and made his way to the Gryffindor common room. He walked in the direction which he believed would lead him to the Gryffindor common room. He had never walked to the common room of his enemies – well, his ex-enemies. It was an unfamiliar route and he soon found himself wondering if he had walked in the correct direction.

"You there, first-year from Gryffindor," Draco called out to a lone small boy who was looking particularly scared.

"Y-yes?" the boy whimpered as he cowered away from Draco in fear.

"Where's the Gryffindor common room?"

The boy pointed in the direction of the common room entrance. "It's there."

"Thanks," said Draco as he walked off, not looking back at the boy who was looking rather surprised that a Slytherin had said a word of thanks to him.

Draco felt pleased with himself for being to come all the way even though he usually had a horrible sense of direction. He walked down the corridor and headed up the stairs. He found himself facing the portrait of the Fat Lady and stared at her. She glanced back coolly and looked away. Of course, she was not interested in a Slytherin.

"Hey," said Draco, feeling slightly affronted.

The Fat Lady rolled eyes in disdain. "What, now? Can't you leave me in peace?"

"I need to talk to Harry Potter."

The Fat Lady's eyes widened in surprise. "Harry? Why do you need to speak to Harry? What can be so important that you need to speak to him?"

Draco groaned in frustration. Why did the Gryffindor common room need a nosy portrait? Why couldn't it be more straightforward like the Slytherin common room? He decided to ignore the Fat Lady and rapped on the portrait as loudly as he could. Hopefully, someone would let him enter the common room without thinking too much about the fact that he was a Slytherin and the former enemy of the great Boy Who Never Seemed to Die.

The portrait opened to reveal a girl, probably in her second year. She eyed Draco with slight apprehension but stood in a fiercely protective way. Draco sighed internally. Even though the war was over and he was doing his best to turn over a new leaf, there were still some people who couldn't bring themselves to trust him.

"I'd like to speak to Harry Potter, if you would so kindly let me in," started Draco, giving his charming smile which he was sure no woman could resist – except possibly Hermione Granger. Wait, why was he thinking of that girl? Draco chided himself internally and focused on what was at hand.

The girl's fierceness faltered a little, as if she was affected by the gentlemanly act Draco had put on. She nodded slightly and let him in.

Draco surveyed the Gryffindor room with interest. This was his first time – and possibly only time – that he had been in the Gryffindor common room. It was completely different from the Slytherin common room. The whole area had a warm and welcoming feel and Draco had to admit he quite liked it. It was sunny and cheerful and filled Draco with sudden hope that perhaps, trying to be friends with Harry, Hermione and Ron wasn't so bad after all.

Draco looked at the couches around and saw Harry and Hermione seated together in front of the fireplace and made a beeline for them. He approached them cautiously from behind and held his breath.

* * *

**Ooh, what happens? xD Any guesses?**


	16. Chapter 16

**To you amazing people who have kept this story going, thank you!**

**Well, I enjoyed reading your guesses at what was going to happen, but before we reach that part, let's start with the Gryffindor trio! Now read on! :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione had also seen the Hogsmeade notice – burgundy with white lettering. Harry and Ron were clearly excited about the prospect of being able to explore Hogsmeade once again. Hermione, however, turned a little quiet and mumbled something about staying back in school to complete some homework.

"What? Homework? Hermione, come on! This year has barely started and you're already burying yourself under piles of homework," complained Ron.

"I'm not burying myself under piles of work, Ronald," replied Hermione, clearly annoyed with Ron.

Harry knew that Hermione was irritated. She only called Ron 'Ronald' whenever something he said particularly miffed her. Perhaps, Harry thought, Ron was actually thinking of asking Hermione out on a date with him. But Hermione no longer harboured romantic feelings towards Ron. In fact, if Harry was to be truthful, he had to admit that she probably never felt anything for Ron.

"Perhaps I might go with Ginny to Hogsmeade and you, Hermione, can accompany Ron," suggested Harry helpfully.

Ron turned a grateful eye towards Harry and gave a side wink but Hermione shot death glares at Harry. Harry gulped. So Hermione obviously didn't want to be alone with Ron in Hogsmeade. Harry decided to put forth another suggestion which he believed would be more favourably received by Hermione.

"You know what? I think I'll loan Ginny to you for the day, Hermione –"

"– and you and Ron can have a boys' day out," completed Hermione, beaming widely. "Excellent idea, Harry."

Hermione reached over and stroked Harry's arm fondly. Ron looked suspiciously at them before giving a defeated sigh and heading off to the boys' dormitory. The moment Ron was out of sight, Hermione let out a deep breath and smiled. Harry looked at her questioningly.

"What?" she asked with a tiny laugh.

"Nothing," Harry replied, looking back at the Hogsmeade notice.

"Harry, come on. I know you so well."

"What's up with you and Ron?"

Hermione's smile changed into one that was strained. "Ron and I? Nothing. I just don't want to go to Hogsmeade with him alone. It'll seem like a date and we are _not_ dating."

"But, Hermione, Ron's your friend. _Our_ friend."

Hermione shook her head sadly. "Harry, Harry, Harry. I have no intention of giving Ron any hope."

"But don't you see how he looks at you? It's... that kind of look," countered Harry and moved over to sit near the fireplace.

Hermione sat down next to him. "I've seen how you looked at Ginny for so many years."

Harry flushed a little with embarrassment. "I guess, it's the same way Ron looks at you."

"But I'm not going to date Ron out of pity, Harry. I'll feel so tortured."

"I know, Hermione, I know."

Hermione shook her head. "No, Harry, you don't. Every time I see Ron, I feel so sorry because I have always known how he felt about me yet I wish he could find someone who truly likes him."

"Hmm, there are still many girls around," grinned Harry mischievously.

"Like, who? Lavender? Gosh, she's still trying to hang around Ron, isn't she?" Hermione said, and sat upright.

"Can't believe she came back to repeat her seventh year," said Harry, shaking his head. "Even Crabbe and Goyle sat for the private exams!"

"She's stupid, alright. Only knows how to snog Won-Won."

Harry laughed. "Are you jealous?"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's just that… I thought I _liked_ Ron at that time and it…"

Harry placed a comforting arm around his best friend. "Yeah, I know."

"But I no longer do."

As Harry and Hermione sat in companionable silence, each thinking about private matters in their heads, they hadn't realised that someone had been knocking on the portrait. They also didn't realised that that someone had been let in and was now standing behind them until that someone said, "Boo!".

Hermione and Harry whipped around at the same time in pure shock. The last thing they had expected was to be interrupted in the midst of their thoughts. And the most amazing thing of all was the sight of the person they saw. They looked at each other and Hermione rubbed her eyes.

"Am I seeing a mirage in the form of Draco? With an owl on his shoulder?" Hermione asked Harry. "Maybe I lack sleep."

"I see him too. Perhaps, it's just the heat of the day," replied Harry as they turned back to the front.

Draco laughed. "It's me, in flesh and blood!"

To prove his point, he nudged Harry with his foot and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"I've got an owl here which I thought I could give you, Harry," explained Draco.

Harry eyed the owl suspiciously. It resembled Hedwig to a great extent. "Where did you get it from?"

Draco smiled. "It's a _she_. Blaise sent her to me. But since I've got an owl, I thought about…"

Hermione's eyebrows rose. "About?"

"I just thought about how Harry lost Hedwig and maybe I ought to give this owl to him," muttered Draco.

"Being charitable, Draco?" asked Hermione.

"Perhaps, Hermione," said Draco, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, that's a good start," replied Hermione, nodding her head in approval.

Draco cleared his throat. "I've named her Snowflakes."

Hermione stared at the young man in front of him. A lovely name for the owl as well? The honest eyes were telling a great deal of truth but it was difficult to imagine that someone like Draco Malfoy could even think of _giving_ something to someone. It seemed quite unbelievable, but there it was – Draco's act of proving that he was changing.

Harry took the owl from Draco, who was eager enough to be with Harry. He stroked the owl and Hermione discerned a longing that had appeared in Harry's eyes. Oh, how he must have missed Hedwig!

"Snowflakes," whispered Harry as he lifted the arm which she rested on.

Snowflakes nipped his finger affectionately. It hopped off and went over to the table to pick on crumbs.

"Thanks," said Harry.

"I think Snowflakes is hungry," added Hermione. "Let's go to the kitchens. Maybe we can get something for her."

Harry and Hermione got up. Harry called out to Snowflakes and proceeded to the portrait hole.

"Aren't you coming, Draco?" asked Harry. "Or do you plan to stay in the common room?"

Draco grinned awkwardly and followed Harry with Hermione trailing behind him. They traipsed along the corridor before heading down to the very portrait which reminded Harry of the S.P.E.W. days. Hermione tickled the pear and a door handle emerged. Needless to say, Draco was gaping at everything that was happening. Harry's face had a look of amusement because, Hermione guessed, someone like Draco who had spent his years in Hogwarts roaming around would know how to enter the kitchens.

As the trio entered, Draco gaped at the number of house elves in the kitchens. Hermione and Harry were approached by a few house elves that looked eager to take orders and busy themselves with some cooking. A few even approached Draco but he politely declined. He moved over to Hermione who had a wistful look on her face.

"So this is where most of the house elves probably go to when they are dismissed," remarked Draco quietly to Hermione.

"I wished I could've pushed for their freedom but my plans didn't work out."

"Ah well, I'm sure they are much happier working."

Hermione remained silent.

"Well," continued Draco, trying to justify his statement, "it is in their blood."

Hermione nodded slowly. "I guess you are right. I remember how frightened they were a few years ago when I offered them freedom."

"You did _what_?"

"She knitted hats with baubles and all sorts as traps," said Harry as he came towards them.

Draco laughed as Hermione turned red with embarrassment.

"I can imagine it – Hermione setting the knitting needles to work on a piece of woolly material while she sits by the fire reading a thick book."

"That's exactly what she did," said Harry, grinning.

"That's an undeniably Hermione-ish thing to do."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, curious.

Draco immediately chose to change the subject, something that caught Hermione's attention as well. "So should we get something for the Weasel?"

* * *

**Meh, that wasn't exciting. Forgive me. But, but, but, what next? Can this new trio stay in peace with each other?**


	17. Chapter 17

**I think its a bit short but, :$ please enjoy it anyway!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and exchanged looks. It was odd to hear Draco being so thoughtful about Ron, when he seemed to dislike Ron the most.

"Well, I don't see why not," said Harry as he approached a house elf.

"Wait," said Hermione quickly holding onto Harry's arm. "He's always eating so much."

"But," countered Draco, "you can use it to bait him onto your side."

Hermione raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Do you really think that would work on him?"

"Why not? It's Ronald Weasley, after all. How hard can it be to tempt him with food?"

"But…"

"Draco's right, Hermione," said Harry as he recited a long list of Ron's favourite foodstuff to a hovering house elf.

"I just don't want the house elves to be overworked," she said sadly.

"They look like they are enjoying themselves," muttered Draco.

Indeed, the house elves were bustling around the kitchen passing utensils, ingredients and all sorts of unidentifiable items. They had a slight bounce to their steps and were softly humming a chirpy tune. In fact, Draco, Harry and Hermione had to admit that the house elves were much happier working.

"If only Dobby was still alive…" mumbled Harry.

"Dobby?" asked Draco curiously. "You mean –"

"Your former house elf, yeah."

"What happened? I never got the full story from Father or Mother."

Harry shook his head. "Passed on."

"Oh."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Remember how Dobby used to say Draco was a 'bad, bad boy'?"

Harry snorted. "Well, Dobby did sum it up quite well."

Draco felt his face reddening. They were referring to the time he had been a Death Eater and following the Dark L– no, moldy Voldy's orders. It was not a part of his past that Draco was keen to remember, thought he had to admit that he did have a hard time trying to forget about it. He felt like he owed Harry and Hermione a lot for helping him stay focused on what was going on instead of slipping into depression.

"Draco?"

Draco looked up to see Hermione and Harry looking at him. Hermione's eyes had a look of concern in them and Harry was looking apologetic. Draco felt a tiny pang in his heart but quickly suppressed it. Why was he becoming so soft suddenly?

"What?" he asked abruptly.

"Are you alright?" asked Hermione cautiously.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," snapped Draco as he turned away and went to the door. "Are you guys coming?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look as a house elf pushed a large bag of food into Harry's arms. Draco was definitely hurt by their comments and Hermione wished they had been more tactful instead of making fun of him. They traipsed out of the kitchen as Draco wordlessly headed to the Slytherin common room.

"I think – " beganHermione .

" – Draco Malfoy's angry?" completed Harry as he looked questioningly at Draco's retreating back.

"Exactly."

"But, Hermione, it's Draco."

"So?"

"It's _Malfoy_."

Hermione rolled her eyes and let out a very heavy sigh. "Harry, Draco's trying to change, alright?"

"But – "

"And I don't deny that I was thoughtless with my comment earlier. Nevertheless, we should try to stop bringing up his past so that he can move on quickly and feel at ease around us."

Harry knew that Hermione was right. However, a small part of him just didn't want to accept Draco. Perhaps, it was because he had always thought of Draco and the prejudices Draco held against him, Hermione and Ron. It wasn't so much about Draco having been a Death Eater because Harry knew that Draco sincerely regretted his choice in joining Voldemort and was willing to help those who wanted to turn over a new leaf. Well, Harry thought, perhaps it's time I removed my prejudice against Draco.

"All right," conceded Harry. "And we need to get Ron to agree with this too."

They left the kitchen and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. As Harry and Hermione entered the boys' dormitory in the Gryffindor tower after depositing Snowflakes at the Owlery, they saw Ron sulking on his bed, reading what seemed to be a Herbology book.

"You actually read the book?" asked Harry and Hermione simultaneously.

Ron looked up, miffed, and closed it. "What is it now?"

"We got you some food," said Harry as he held out the large bundle.

Ron's eyes lit up as he eyed the package. "Thanks!"

Hermione stepped in front of Harry and looked pointedly at Ron. "Before you take it, you need to agree to one thing."

Ron's face immediately changed into one of annoyance.

"Ronald."

Ron snorted unhappily. "_What_ now?"

"You need to promise us that you'll be civil and friendly towards Draco Malfoy from now onwards."

"Yeah, yeah, all right," said Ron as he tried to reach out for the food.

"Which means," continued Harry, moving the bag out of Ron's reach, "you must not try to pick a fight with him every time you see him."

"I'm not the one picking a fight! He's the one who always starts it!"

"Draco's just provoking you for a little laughter because you're so easy to anger," explained Hermione.

"Oh, he's _Draco_ now, is he?"

"Ronald Weasley. I've been addressing him as Draco for so long!"

"Maybe Snowflakes will like the food," suggested Harry.

"Snowflakes?" asked Ron, confused.

"It's a beautiful owl that Draco gave Harry," explained Hermione.

Ron's eyebrows knitted in anger. "Forget it! Go fraternise with your _Draco_!"

"Ron!" exclaimed Harry exasperatedly.

"And I thought we were friends," said Ron as he stormed out of the dormitory.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Not another one who was upset! And besides, why was Ron so touchy whenever Draco was mentioned? With these thoughts running through their heads, the two friends made their way back again to the Owlery.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun!**

**A little teaser: Draco's starring in the next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

**I didn't realise there was a delay between the last chapter and this! Apologies :( I couldn't go on my tablet for some time. Anyway, please enjoy this!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

The Slytherin common room was quiet and, for some reason, cold. Draco sat on the rug in front of the fireplace and sulked. He knew he had been wrong to think that Hermione and Harry could so easily forgive him and forget about the past. That brainless, bushy-haired girl had to bring up his past. It was not as if he needed to be reminded constantly of the bad times.

Draco closed his eyes. Every night, he went to bed with a tiny lamp next to his bed. That light was what kept him sane and gave him hope for a better life after the war. It seemed like a soft thing – Draco Malfoy sleeping with a light by his bedside – and almost childish. But if he didn't, all the terrible days filled with dread and terror would come rushing back to him.

What he really wanted right now was to talk to Blaise. He really wished he could ask Blaise what to do. Sometimes, no matter how annoyingly stand-offish Blaise seemed, he always had good sense about him and seemed to be able to make a reasonable decision.

"Blaise, Blaise, Blaise, where are you when I need you?" mumbled Draco unhappily as he proceeded to turn his ring around his finger.

Draco couldn't take the isolation any longer. He couldn't bear to sit down and idle in front of the fireplace either. He stood up purposefully and walked out of the Slytherin common room.

Draco shuffled along the corridor aimlessly. It was one thing to be bored but to be practically friendless was a thought that made a shiver go down his spine. Despite being the type of person who liked solitude, the last thing he wanted was to grow old and friendless, shunned by the people who once so diligently trailed behind him and his family and the people who had always been on the right side. He shook his head wildly. He was beginning to be such a worry-wart. Where was the Draco who used to walk around the school with such pride that could only belong to a Malfoy? _Gone_, thought Draco bitterly, _at least a year ago_. He made a mental note to himself to stop thinking about the past when things were all right, when he could get anything he wanted, when everyone –

_All right_, thought Draco, _cut it out, you moron_. Worrying unnecessarily and reminiscing about the past wasn't going to bring back any of the good things he had. Deep down, he knew that Harry and Hermione would always be there for him.

Wait a minute. Did he just think of Harry and Hermione as his friends? The Boy Who Lived and his faithful muggle-born best friend, Little Miss Know-It-All? Draco closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He sure was becoming loony these days. There was a tugging within him. What was it that he really wanted?

He rested his hand against the wall. There was a curious sensation as the wall shifted. It was no longer grainy and rough but smooth. Draco turned around cautiously. A marble door had mysteriously emerged on the section of the wall that Draco had been leaning against. Draco ran his fingers over the door. The stone was cold but strangely inviting. He gave a slight push and it opened slowly. He stepped through and found himself in an empty room.

Except that there was a large thing right in the centre.

Draco moved closer towards the centre. He looked at the large, imposing object. It was a beautiful mirror.

He stared intently at the mirror. It seemed to have a sort of mysterious aura around it. Ever since the time he could talk, Draco had always been warned by his parents and grandparents to be very wary of all magical objects he encountered. Not all had good properties – some were meant to scar the person who handled it.

A vivid memory of the necklace that had cursed Katie Bell flashed in front of his eyes. Draco shuddered at the thought. He shut his eyes and shook his head wildly in an effort to erase the vision. What if looking into that mirror brought back unwanted memories? _No_, thought Draco, _why would there be such a dangerous object in Hogwarts?_

_Hidden by Voldemort_, a tiny voice whispered at the back of his head.

"NO," Draco exclaimed. "No, _no_."

Draco clutched his wand instinctively. He ran his free hand through his hair. His forehead felt clammy.

"Relax, Draco. _Relax_. He's gone. Harry killed him," murmured Draco in an effort to comfort himself.

He couldn't figure out why he still felt so vulnerable at the thought of that vile man who had turned into something resembling less than a human.

Draco opened his eyes and stared at the mirror. Slowly, large script started to form on the surface. Draco stared intently at it.

_Be brave, Draco Malfoy. Be as brave as Harry Potter._

Draco started moving backwards from the mirror but stopped as the writing disappeared as fast as it came. Instead, an image replaced it. It was one of him, Hermione and Harry talking and laughing merrily, walking through school.

Draco whipped around so quickly his head started to spin. He looked around. There was not a single soul – or human, rather, thought Draco – that was in the room with him.

"_Homenum revelio_," whispered Draco, holding his wand in front of him.

Nothing happened. Draco scrunched his eyebrows and looked at the mirror again. This time, the engraved words on the frame of the mirror caught his eyes.

_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

"What kind of language is that?" wondered Draco aloud, disgusted.

Instantly, words superimposed the image shown in the mirror.

_It is not a language, Draco Malfoy. If you are intelligent enough, you will be able to figure out the true meaning behind the words._

Draco felt insulted. Intelligent enough? Was this bloody piece of glass trying to insult him? He turned his back on the mirror and looked at the wall through which he had entered. He walked towards it quickly and placed his hand against it and pushed. A small section of it opened, allowing him to leave.

As Draco made his way out, he turned around to stare at the mirror once again. It was still there, like as if nothing had happened. The door automatically swung shut behind him and blended against the wall again. He stared at the wall. Where was he?

He looked around as he walked ahead. He stopped, turned and tried to figure out his bearing. He was on the sixth floor and the mysterious wall seemed to be exactly below the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Draco made a mental note of its location and headed down the stairs.

* * *

**So, did anyone notice the similarity between Draco's encounter and Hermione's encounter?**

**Also, I do know that the Mirror of Erised (yes, if you haven't guessed it by now, its _that _mirror) doesn't communicate with the person looking into it. But I wanted it to!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I feel guilty for not uploading sooner ;P It's because of acciothedemigod that I decided I finally should.**

**Anyway, thanks for the continued support :) Hope you like this chapter!**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione tugged at Harry's sleeve. Harry looked up with a thoughtful look on his face. Both of them were in the Owlery, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze enter through the large window. Many owls stood lined up waiting to be sent on errands. Some puffed their chests out importantly. Others seemed more content to be where they were.

Harry looked at Snowflakes and stretched his arm out. The beautiful owl flew from his arm and made a turn around the Owlery before settling at the top. It stood next to a large raven that had moved to the side to make way for it.

"I like that raven," said Harry absent-mindedly. "I wonder who owns that."

"Harry, let's go and find Draco."

"You're right, I think it belongs to Draco," said Harry, smiling at the bird. It definitely had a better temperament compared to its owner.

"Harry, pay attention."

"What is it, Hermione?"

"Let's go and find Draco."

"Hermione, why the heck would I want to go wandering about the castle looking for the blonde ferret?"

Hermione rolled her eyes impatiently. "One moment you guys seem like good friends and the next thing I know is that – "

Laughter cut off Hermione's words as Harry doubled over. "Hermione, I have not much against Draco Malfoy anymore. It's just that the idea of him being a blonde ferret is still quite appealing."

"Will you please be serious? I'm trying to tell you something."

Harry nodded, wiping tears that were running down his face. "Go ahead."

"As I was saying – "

"Hermione, you should really learn how to be straightforward and stop trying to give a long lecture."

Hermione clenched her teeth in frustration. "Stop interrupting me, Harry!"

"All right, Hermione. Calm down. Just get to the point, will you?"

"Fine. I feel guilty about what happened to Malfoy earlier."

"He's Malfoy now, is he?"

"Harry."

"Sorry, please go on."

Hermione shook her hands in exasperation. "But I just can't bear to even imagine myself apologizing to him."

"Why?"

"He may have changed for the better, Harry, but there are still some snobbish qualities within him."

"Ah."

"So, I was wondering what I should do about it."

Harry looked at Hermione. His friend was truly a kind-hearted girl. That was one of the things he loved about her the most. No matter who it was, she was always determined to give them a chance and it was this that made Harry feel so grateful to have always had her. Without her, Harry was sure that his chances of defeating Voldemort would have been in vain.

"Hermione, just do it the way you feel most comfortable with."

"That sure is some great help," said Hermione, sighing, as she moved to look out from the Owlery window.

They remained this way for awhile, Hermione staring gloomily out of the window and Harry being extra friendly towards the owls.

Hermione felt a searing burn in her pocket and jumped. She pulled the offending item out and looked at it. It was just her fake galleon from the Dumbedore Army days.

"What is it?" asked Harry urgently.

"It's from Luna."

"Go on."

"Come on, Harry, ," said Hermione too quickly and pulled Harry out of the Owlery.

"Hospital wing? Injured? Who?" asked Harry, confused.

Hermione ignored him but kept going at top speed until they reached the building where the Hospital Wing was.

"Hermione."

"Yes, Harry?"

"Would you please refresh my memory once again as to why we're heading towards the Hospital Wing?" Harry asked, stopping abruptly pulling physically halting his best friend.

"Luna sent me a message," Hermione answered patiently, holding up her enchanted galleon, "that Draco injured himself and is in the Hospital Wing."

Harry shook his head. "And what has that got to do with us?"

"What do you mean, Harry?"

"I mean," Harry began, spreading his hands out in front of him, "why are we even going to the Hospital Wing?"

"To visit a friend," Hermione said simply with controlled patience and resumed walking.

_Friend_. That was a word which Harry still _did_ have a hard time trying to connect Draco with. Even though their relationship had improved slightly over the past few days, Harry was still not used to thinking of Draco as a friend – something which he noticed Hermione was having a much easier time with. _Acquaintance_ was a more preferable word.

Harry shook his head as he plodded on next to Hermione. In the past, the last thing he would find himself doing was visiting Draco Malfoy in the Hospital Wing. It felt absurd to be leaving Ron sulking somewhere in the school grounds.

"What about Ron, then?" Harry asked.

"_What_ about Ron?" Hermione countered, slightly annoyed.

"Calm down, Hermione. All I wanted to know was if we're getting Ron to come with us to visit Malfoy."

"Ron? You think Ron would visit Draco?" Hermione snorted indignantly. "He's such a git that he can't even see the need to mend the relationship between you guys and Draco! Do you think he'd even want to come?"

"_No, I wouldn't!_"

Both Harry and Hermione spun around in shock. Ron was one floor below them, staring angrily at the pair. Hermione gulped. The last thing she expected was to meet Ron in such an awkward situation. What's more, she hadn't realised that she'd been talking so loudly – and about Ron himself too!

"I think you were a little loud, Hermione," mumbled Harry under his breath as Ron shot them a furious look.

"More than just a little. I was very loud," replied Hermione under her breath.

"Still whispering about me, then. I never knew I had such great friends. And to think that I had just cooled my head and was coming to talk to you guys," raged Ron, before stomping off in a different direction.

"Ron!" Harry called out, moving downstairs.

But Hermione grabbed his arm and shook her head. "No, just leave him be. All he heard was just the truth. The truth hurts, but he has to accept it before he can move on and correct himself."

Harry looked at Hermione curiously. "Aren't you upset, at the very least?"

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "Not really. I just wished he could be more… like us, if you know what I mean."

Harry simply nodded and the two of them continued to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

**What happened to Draco?**


	20. Chapter 20

**Another chapter! :) I couldn't resist uploading another one. :P**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Luna Lovegood, as dreamy as she was, took the stairs two at a time. She was anxious to get to the Room of Requirement. The last time she had been there, she had accidentally left her hairclip behind. As she was reaching the sixth floor, she colliding into something solid and fell hard backwards.

She coughed and stood up shakily, holding onto the banister. She looked up to see a pale-haired boy stare back at her in half-amusement and half-irritation.

"Ah, Draco Malfoy," she said in her musical voice. "What a pleasure to meet _you_ here."

"Luna Lovegood."

"I'm _so_ glad you know my name," replied Luna as she made her way to Draco. "Are you all right? Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm fine thanks," mumbled Draco as he tried to walk past Luna.

His legs gave way beneath him the very next second and he fell into a crumpled heap. He cursed as he gripped his ankle.

"My bloody ankle hurts so badly!" whined Draco, wincing in pain.

"Oh dear, shall I bring you to the Hospital Wing?"

"No, there's no need to," muttered Draco as he stood up once again and tried to make his way down but stumbled over his injured foot. "Crap."

"I think you need help," decided Luna.

She took her wand out of her pocket and flicked it casually. In an instant, Draco was lying on a stretcher and floating in mid-air. Draco's eyes widened in panic as he struggled to get off the stretcher.

"Lovegood!" he screamed hysterically. "What the hell are you trying to do?"

"Helping you. And if I were you, I'd try not to go over the stretcher – "

A loud crash resounded, cutting Luna off midway through her sentence. Draco was, once again, lying on the stairs, looking absolutely dusty and dishevelled.

"I warned you, Draco," said Luna as she repeated the same spell again.

"Damn you, Lovegood. You should have just left me alone," muttered Draco angrily.

"I'm helping you."

"And I didn't ask you to."

"Careful, Malfoy, I'm not really concentrating on the spell so do watch what you say."

Luna gave Draco a sadistic smile as she slowly walked down the stairs in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

Draco eyed Luna warily. He had always thought of her as reasonably harmless but it seemed that his first impression of her wasn't as accurate as he would have liked it to be. He decided that he'd better not try anything funny. His shoulder blade and right wrist were hurting badly now and his ankle was throbbing. The last thing he wanted was another injury to add to the list.

But what he wished most was that he hadn't wandered around the castle and even gone into that room with the mirror. Damn his curiosity. He was turning into another curious freak like that bushy-haired – wait, nice-haired – nice-haired? Draco let out a groan of frustration. He was probably really turning loony now that he fell down and was being helped by Luna. What did some students call her? Loony Lovegood, was it?

"Damn you, Lovegood," mumbled Draco.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You're welcome, Draco Malfoy," said Luna smiling sweetly as she made a conscious effort of bumping Draco's stretcher round each corner as she went down the stairs.

"Okay, okay, thank you for the help!" yelled Draco, feeling sick to the stomach.

"Now, that's better."

Luna lowered Draco's stretcher and proceeded to be more careful as they headed towards the Hospital Wing.

* * *

"Ow, ow, _ow_," winced Draco as Madam Pomfrey used her wand to poke his joints.

Draco was feeling absolutely sore and heavily bruised. He tried turning his neck but was prevented from doing so by a dull ache at the back of his neck. Frustrated, he tried to lift his hand but immediately dropped it as a blinding pain shot through his arm. He was furious with Luna. She just had to meddle in his welfare. If only she had not so carelessly tried to help him, he wouldn't have been in _this_ bad a state. But then again, he probably wouldn't have been able to walk down the stairs if not for her help.

"Damn you, Lovegood," muttered Draco, annoyed.

"You're welcome, Draco Malfoy."

Draco sighed as he looked up to see Luna Lovegood sitting on a chair and reading _The Quibbler_. _Upside down_. _She hasn't changed, has she_, thought Draco. No, everyone had changed in different ways since the war, but rather, Luna's quirky ways stayed the same.

He felt a small smile forming on his lips. That girl had always been weirdly hilarious. He remembered how he used to find her rather disturbing once. But now, he realised that he didn't really quite mind her. She was unique in her own way. But there was nothing about her that seemed to him to be more attractive compared to Hermione. Wait a minute, thought Draco with a sudden start. Did he just think that _Hermione_ was _attractive_?

"Must be the pain that's making me think like this," mumbled Draco as Madam Pomfrey pushed a goblet into his hands.

"Just drink this and you'll be fine," she said and bustled out of sight and into her office.

Draco swallowed the potion. It was mellow, smelled of lavender and tasted strangely of cranberries. He emptied the last drop of the potion into his mouth and heaved a sigh of relief. Hopefully he could leave the hospital wing soon enough.

"Harry and Hermione should be here soon," said Luna, breaking Draco out of his reverie.

"Hmm? Harry? Hermione?" Draco mumbled.

"Yes."

"How...?"

"Enchanted galleons," stated Luna, holding out a shiny gold coin.

Draco nodded and yawned. The potion was definitely one that caused drowsiness. The last thing he could remember before drifting off was a glimpse of bushy, brown hair bobbing round the corner.

* * *

**Now we know what happened to Draco.**

**Just a little Luna and Draco interaction. I think Draco's become more accepting of people instead of pushing them away.**

**And look who just arrived with bushy, brown hair ;)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Pardon the super long delay for this chapter. I was very busy with uni and all D; I hope this chapter makes up for the wait :)**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

"What –"began Hermione as she saw Luna seated beside Draco's bed.

"He sprained his ankle while going down the stairs," answered Luna. "And he decided to be a little too clever for his own good and argue with me while he was floating mid-air on a stretcher."

"Oh, wow," replied Hermione.

Harry nodded and was immediately brought into conversation by Luna who was trying to get him to do an interview for the Quibbler about life after the war.

Hermione tuned out from them and her eyes wandered over to Draco. With his eyes shut and peacefully in sleep, he looked too innocent. For one moment, Hermione couldn't believe that this was the same boy who had taken the dark mark and been a Death Eater for two years. He looked so lonely that Hermione felt something within her stir. She looked away quickly, aware that tears were threatening to form in her eyes.

Hermione pretended to adjust her hair. She used her sleeves to rub her eyes before Luna could notice anything. Why was she being all emotional suddenly? She really needed to get a grip over the person she should be channelling her feelings towards.

_What if it was Ron who was injured?_

An image of Ron lying injured floated past Hermione's eyes. She felt her insides shrivel in slight disgust almost immediately. If it was Ron who was lying here on the bed in the hospital wing, Hermione was sure that it wouldn't be like the year before last where she would've sat day and night, holding his hand and wishing for him to recover.

No. If it was Ron, she would just have stayed as long as Harry did back then.

_Wait, the two of you are a couple. Right?_

Draco's words rang in Hermione's ears. She remembered feeling distinctly annoyed when he had group herself and Ron together. As a _couple_. The days when she had any affectionate feelings for Ron were long gone.

There was not a single shred of romantic love for him left.

Hermione felt a little weak at this realisation. Sure, she had been saying all along that she had no feelings for him. But to actually delve deep into her feelings and search was something she had been trying to prolong. That was so until now, when she saw the forlorn-looking form of Draco who was lying injured on the hospital bed.

Something about Draco made her evaluate her feelings for Ron. Hermione recalled the sentiments she had while working with Draco during Potions that day. She felt at ease to be with someone who was in _tandem_ with her – someone who could read her thoughts and anticipate her actions.

In fact, that was what she wanted in any person she wanted to have a relationship with.

"Hermione?"

Hermione looked up to see Luna studying her curiously through her Spectrespecs. "Yes?"

"What are you thinking so deeply about?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing really."

"Don't worry about it, Hermione. Everything will fall into place, just like how people should know that Crumple-Horned Snorkacks exist," said Luna smiling serenely at Hermione like as if she had just recited a proven fact.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in mock amusement. If Luna hadn't made that comment about the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, she would have have taken her words more seriously. But, even then, Hermione's instincts told her that Luna was pretty much able to guess what she had been pondering about.

Luna seemed highly perceptive and that was what Hermione was intrigued by. How could that girl even possibly have an inkling of what she was thinking?

Hermione lifted her head to look at Harry but was surprised to see that he was missing.

"Did you see…?" began Hermione.

"Oh, Harry left while you were still in deep thought about Draco," answered Luna blithely from behind _The Quibbler_. "I don't think you heard him and he didn't look like he wanted to disturb you.

Hermione stared at Luna in bewilderment before turning to look back at Draco.

"And I'm not going to leave just yet," said Hermione, absent-mindedly as she knotted her fingers together.

* * *

Draco woke up much later to see Hermione seated beside his bed. She was dozing off; her head lolled as she sat upright in the chair. She looked extremely peaceful in her sleep. Draco couldn't help but keep his eyes on her. An elegant sort of aura emanated from Hermione. In fact, if Draco was truthful, there was something rather _appealing_ about Hermione.

Wait, did he just think that Hermione was _appealing?_ Of all of all descriptions, appealing? _Appealing_.

Draco shook his head and turned over. He winced slightly as pain shot up his leg. There was something wrong with him today. His brain felt a little addled with. But the thought that was first and foremost in his mind was why she was still here waiting for him after all this while. If he remembered accurately, she came in just as he had drifted off to sleep and she was still here when he woke up.

Well, thought Draco, at least he felt much better physically. But there was something that was niggling at his emotions.

"Ahh, this is _so_ frustrating," he mumbled aloud, tugging at the blanket.

"What is…?" came a sleepy voice from the side.

Draco froze in his movements. Did she wake up? He turned to see Hermione rubbing her eye sleepily.

"Oh gosh, I can't believe I actually fell asleep here," muttered Hermione, yawning.

"You shouldn't even have stayed here," said Draco, furrowing his brows.

Hermione was taken aback for a moment. "What do you mean? You saw me coming in here?"

Draco's pale face flushed a little as he remembered how seeing the bushy brown hair had lifted his spirits slightly. "Yes, I did. Just before I feel asleep, I saw you and Harry come in."

Well, he didn't see Harry, but what can a little white lie do?

Hermione nodded. "How do you feel, Draco? Much better now?"

Draco nodded his head. "Yeah, it's all right. I feel fine."

Hermione looked at Draco rather curiously. The Draco she had known usually made such a big fuss about small cuts and bruises that he got during any of their lessons. But this time, even though he had sprained his ankle and fallen from some height, he was just brushing it off as something merely minor.

All of a sudden, Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable to be seated in the Hospital Wing. Even Luna had already left! She just realised how it seemed like as if she was overly-concerned for Draco's well-being, which was definitely _not_ the case, of course. She just wanted to show some concern for a friend but it seemed to her that she had overstayed her visit.

"I'd best get going, then," mumbled Hermione, as she stood up and proceeded to walk away from Draco.

"Thank you."

Those two words, though muttered in a very soft voice, reached Hermione's ears. She froze in her tracks. Hermione turned around to look at Draco but he had shifted over so that he was now facing the other side of the bed with his back towards her. Shaking her head, Hermione continued walking out of the Hospital Wing.

Somethingwas _definitely_ not quite right.


	22. Chapter 22

**Something different this chapter ! :D**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Harry entered the Gryffindor common room after taking a walk through the school grounds in an attempt to look for Ron. But something told him to just stop searching. Instead, he decided to look for Ginny. After all, he had promised Hermione that he would loan Ginny to her for the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow.

"Harry?"

Harry spun around at the familiar voice. Ginny was coming down the stairs, carrying a set of books. Harry broke into a grin.

"Ginny." Harry walked forward to meet his girlfriend. "Do you need me to help you carry those?"

"No, I'm good," said Ginny as she smiled sweetly. "Have you seen Hermione?"

Harry furrowed his brows. "Well, she was at the Hospital Wing."

"What?" exclaimed Ginny, almost dropping the books. "Hermione was injured?"

"She –"

"Harry! Why didn't you tell me? Oh gosh, I can't believe this!"

Ginny dumped the books on the small mahogany table at the side of the common room and dashed to the portrait.

"Ginny! Wait a moment!"

Harry leapt forward to catch hold of her arm before she could leave. The moment his hand came into contact with her arm, she whipped around. She looked at his hand on her arm. Then her eyes moved upwards to meet his. A quiet, shy aura surrounded the two as they both reddened slightly.

Harry cleared his throat and removed his hand from Ginny's arm. "Hermione is not injured."

Ginny stared at Harry blankly for a moment before his words registered. "Well, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Harry laughed. "You didn't even give me time to explain further!"

Ginny blushed prettily. "Sorry, Harry, you know how I am. So why is Hermione there?"

"Well, I was with her actually. She wanted to visit Malfoy."

"Malfoy? _Malfoy_? You mean, _Draco Malfoy_?"

"Yes, Ginny."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would _Hermione_ want to visit _Malfoy_?" asked Ginny, placing a hand on her hips.

"Well," said Harry, shrugging his shoulders, "we're trying to be friends with him."

Almost at once, Ginny started firing questions at a rapid rate.

"How is it like on Malfoy's side?"

"He wants to be friends."

"What about you? Do you feel like you could be friends with him?"

"Given time," Harry said, tilting his head, "there shouldn't be a problem with that."

"But what about now?"

"Right now, I'm just working on being civil towards Malfoy. But I must say that our conversation during breakfast was a bit weird."

Ginny raised her eyebrows in amazement. "You had a proper conversation with Malfoy? To think that I'd live to hear about the day it happens!"

"You're so overly-dramatic, Ginny."

"But Harry, you must remember that Malfoy – "

"I haven't forgotten that he was my enemy and a former Death Eater. But even though the past moulds the present, the present paves the road to the future. If Draco Malfoy decides to turn over a new leaf and be on the right side, I don't see why we shouldn't have a little trust in him."

Ginny stared at Harry. "That sounds almost like as if you consider him as a friend."

"Not yet," admitted Harry, "though I have to say that what I just told you sounded like as if I was trying to vouch for him."

"It's just your mother's kindness, as everyone says."

Harry shook his head. "I just… I don't know what to feel, really. One moment, I don't mind being friendly towards Malfoy. But the next moment, I'm hostile again."

"Personally, I feel that Malfoy can't be trusted so readily," said Ginny with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Tell Hermione that."

Ginny raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"She's been at the Hospital Wing for two hours now, sitting by Draco's bedside."

Ginny's eyes widened. "She didn't possibly buy into his crap, did she?"

"Ginny!"

"Sorry, I can't help but be protective."

Harry smiled. That was what he found rather charming about Ginny – her fierce desire to protect her loved ones from all harm and evil. Not that Draco was under the category of 'harm and evil', Harry thought quietly to himself.

"By the way, Hermione wants you for a girls' day out tomorrow," said Harry, picking up the books Ginny had left on the table.

"Give those to me," said Ginny, trying to take them from Harry. "Well, let her know I'm up for it."

Harry's grip stayed firm on the books. "I'll take these to wherever you want me to. Go find Hermione and talk to her for now."

Ginny nodded. "All right. I need to return those to the library."

They both walked out of the common room. Harry and Ginny stopped and stared at each other for a few minutes, their eyes slowly tracing each other's features in a way as if they didn't want to forget how the other looked like. It was difficult for both of them to finally accept that they wouldn't be separated by anything again – like how they were last year by the war.

"I'll see you in a bit, then," said Harry.

"Yeah, see you," replied Ginny.

Ginny hesitated for a moment before she quickly stood on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips to Harry's. She quickly turned around and headed off to find Hermione. Harry was startled for a moment because that kiss was quite unexpected. But the unexpectedness of it made it sweeter and he walked off to the library with a stupid smile plastered on his face.

* * *

**Okay, before I get bashed by people telling me that this ^ shouldn't take one chapter in a Dramione, let me qualify myself. In my summary, I did say that the story will have other pairings.**

**So there! :D We have a Harry x Ginny moment. How did it go? XD**


	23. Chapter 23

**So... :D**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione rounded a corner and found herself face-to-face with Ginny. She beamed at her friend who in turn gave her a very suspicious look.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Were you with Draco Malfoy?" countered Ginny at once.

"Wait, how do you know that – Oh! It must be Harry," said Hermione, sighing as she realised that Ginny's suspicions probably arose because Harry must have mentioned that she had been at the Hospital Wing for ages.

"Yes, Harry told me that you were at the Hospital Wing. So you were visiting an injured Malfoy?"

"Yes, nothing else, Ginny."

But Ginny continued looking at Hermione through narrowed eyes. "But why did you spend two hours there? Which girl spends two hours with an injured boy –"

"I am not in love with Draco Malfoy."

Ginny's eyebrows rose in shock. "I didn't mean that at all, Hermione."

Hermione shook her head in confusion. "Then what was it you were trying to say?"

"Let me finish my sentence," said Ginny, as she led Hermione to a quiet alcove where they could sit and talk. "Which girl spends two hours with an injured boy who had tormented her throughout her schooldays?"

"One who is willing to forgive, I guess."

"Forgive? That's fine. But do you think you can _forget_ about these things in his presence? Can you _really_ forget all the things he has said and done?"

Hermione nodded her head at first, but stopped abruptly as a sad look clouded her face. "Now that you've made me think about it in this aspect, I have to say I can't really forget."

"Not _can't __really_. You just can't."

"You reminded me of my second year when he first called me a Mudblood."

"Exactly."

Hermione suddenly shook her head furiously. "But no, Ginny. _Someone_ needs to give him a chance to prove his new self."

Ginny placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "And must you be the one to do so?"

Hermione lifted her head and had a faraway look on her face. "Yes, I must."

"Why, Hermione?"

"I want to follow my instincts for once. I don't say that I completely like him now as a friend. Neither would I say I dislike him. I'm not too sure but all I know is that I want to be the one to give him the chance to come onto the right path and change."

Ginny nodded. "I don't really agree with this. However, all I know is that I don't want you to get hurt on the way."

"Don't worry, Ginny. I'll be careful. Although the past can't be forgotten, the present moulds the future."

* * *

Harry walked into the Library and placed the books in a trolley. His instincts told him to walk towards the section on Transfiguration. As he walked down the aisle, students who were sitting at the tables alongside the library started whispering to their friends when they caught sight of him.

Harry sighed internally. As usual, everyone was still talking about how he had saved them all from Voldemort – and how the _Avada Kedavra_ didn't kill him for the second time. That was something that still continued to puzzle him to no end no matter how many times he recalled Dumbledore's explanation about it.

_The Avada Kedavra was meant to kill him._

_But it didn't._

_Why?_

Not now, Harry thought. These thoughts weren't meant to pop into his head while he was walking in the library. Harry shoved the thoughts aside and focused his attention on what was happening in front.

Ron was sitting at a table, with his head hidden behind a book.

Harry slowly edged closer to Ron and was startled to hear soft snores coming from Ron. But it wasn't that surprising to see Ron fall asleep on a book since that was typically Ron.

"Ron?" said Harry quietly next to his friend.

Ron gave a loud snort but continued sleeping.

"Ron?"

This time, Ron mumbled something and drifted back into sleep.

"Ron!"

Ron gave a loud snore and jerked. He opened his eyes groggily and sat up. He looked away upon seeing Harry, obviously not wanting to have any eye contact.

"Ron, talk to me."

"What is it?"

"Don't be so hostile. Don't avoid Hermione and me."

"I will do so until you both have realised that I am more important than your filthy, snivelling, _Draco_," said Ron defensively, his ears turning red.

"Ron. Please."

"Harry. _Please_."

"It's not as if Draco Malfoy is our best friend now. All we're trying to do is just be a bit friendlier towards him and help him out in school. That's all."

Ron nodded his head in mock understanding. "Yes, I see that you're very supportive of the person who was your enemy."

"That's not a very nice way of putting it, Ron."

"But it's the truth isn't it?"

"Malfoy _was_ my enemy. Now, he _is_ probably on the way to becoming my friend."

"But not your friend yet? I thought he already was?" asked Ron slowly, finally turning to look at Harry in the eye.

"No, Ron. It is not easy for me to think of him as a friend. But I try for Hermione's sake."

"Hermione's sake? What do you mean?" Ron asked, taken aback.

"Hermione… you know how she's such a good person with a strong sense of justice?" began Harry.

"Sounds more like you, to be honest."

Harry ignored Ron's comment and continued. "She believes that Malfoy needs to be given a chance."

Ron looked closely at Harry. "Does she? Has she fallen for that git's charms then?"

Harry gave Ron a bewildered look. "Charms? Hermione is perfectly unaffected by any of Malfoy's _charms_."

"I don't believe so."

"Ron, stop being so stubborn. Hermione is, right now, just like how she was about the S.P.E.W. All she wants to do is – "

"Help Malfoy get freedom? Like a house elf?"

"No. Well yes, but not in that sense. She wants to help him, to put it simply."

"But what has that got to do with me?"

"Ron!"

Ron just looked at Harry blankly. "I'm serious. I don't want to get involved with that guy."

"I see some improvement. Just a minute ago you were calling him a 'git'. But now he's a 'guy'."

Harry gave a small smile as Ron blanched.

"That was sub-conscious."

"But your sub-consciousness does what your heart desires."

"Harry," said Ron, staring at his friend in disgust, "I wouldn't mind puking a bucket of slugs right now."

"Just think about it, Ron," said Harry, giving Ron a pat on the shoulder. "You're still our best friend."

Harry rose to leave the library and was caught up almost immediately by Ron.

"I'll think about it. But I can't promise anything, Harry. I really don't like him."

"I know, Ron. I know."

* * *

**I promise there'll be some Draco and Hermione interaction soon xD**


	24. Chapter 24

**So I've got the next chapter out. I think I want to get this moving ;o Also, replies:**

_To my dear CrunchyMunchers, this story takes place after the war. And after the war, there's a lot of things going on for the 'war heroes' and all that hustle and bustle with the Weasley family (and Harry and Hermione included) so Harry and Ginny never really get a chance to spend quality time together much because everyone wants a bit of both of them. :D So when they are finally together, they act shyly. A voracious Ginny is awesome, but I love my Ginny to be a little shy :P_

_To my dear Anonymous reviewer, I wish I knew who you were (you should've signed in!). I intend for this story to develop in a whole-rounded sense so that I can explore the relationships (platonic and non-platonic) of the characters featured in this story. But somewhere along the way, I felt that it became long-minded and by the time I reached chapter 23, I was beginning to get impatient with my story. So I actually decided to get things moving because I want to end this fic and move on to writing a more proper Dramione. It's not your review that makes me feel this way. I've been feeling like this for awhile. Maybe its due to my on-off commitment to the story. But I hope that the future chapters will be better :D Thanks for sharing your thoughts dearie :)_

**And a Draco and Hermione episode for you!**

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco held his breath as Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office and headed straight towards him carrying a sheet of parchment. He crossed his fingers and hoped very sincerely that he could be discharged from the Hospital Wing.

"Mr Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey said, nodding in acknowledgement to the slender, young man who was sitting upright and alert on the bed.

Draco simply nodded, not able to form any words as he anxiously waited for Madam Pomfrey to give the verdict. He silently hoped hard to be discharged today.

"Your bones are all fine. Your bruises have been healed. Your ankle, however, is a bit tricky…" she paused.

She took her wand out and started prodding at Draco's ankle, murmuring words which Draco could not make out properly. Then she gave it a curious look and tucked her wand into her pocket.

"Your ankle is fine but I recommend that you don't do anything strenuous, like going to Hogsmeade today," she said firmly, looking hard into Draco's eyes.

Draco looked away.

"Other than that, you're all fine," continued Madam Pomfrey, giving Draco a firm pat on the shoulder. "You may leave."

Draco gingerly got off the bed and thanked Madam Pomfrey. The witch looked surprised but simply nodded her head in approval and went back to her office. Draco walked out of the Hospital Wing, feeling completely fine and started sprinting towards the Slytherin common room.

He made his way to his dormitory and found an owl waiting for him patiently. He quickly untied the folded parchment from the owl's leg and unfolded the letter.

_Draco_

_I will not be back today. Mother is making me do some last-minute things for her._

_See you tomorrow._

_Blaise_

Draco turned that note around and grabbed a quill from the small table next to his bed. He dipped it carefully in deep green ink and wrote his reply.

_You're such a flobberworm._

He then tied the note back onto the owl's leg and carried it over to the window before sending it out. He had been hoping to see Blaise today and, _maybe_ get a chance to spend the day in Hogsmeade – without Pomfrey knowing, of course. But now that Blaise was only coming the day he originally had intended to, Draco felt slightly lonely but tried to suppress it. _Not even Potty and Bucktooth are here_, Draco thought miserably, _since they'd definitely have gone out with their little gang to enjoy the treats of Hogsmeade_.

He lifted his leg, placed it on his bed and gently prodded his ankle. There was a slight pain. He brought his leg back down and hopped on the ground a few times, stopping when the pain started becoming more pronounced. He slumped against the wall. What was he going to do now?

_Find that mirror_.

At once, Draco grabbed a black scarf and drew it close around his neck. He walked slowly out of his dormitory and into the common room. There were a few girls hanging around and when they saw him, they drew their heads closer and started whispering. Once upon a time, that would have inflated his ego. But now, he couldn't be bothered.

"Draco?" one of them called out.

"Yes?" he replied, feeling slightly annoyed to have been stopped by them.

"Care to join us?" one of them asked, coming closer and slipping her arm around his.

Draco looked at their faces closely. If he wasn't wrong, they were a year below him and from Slytherin. One of them looked familiar. _Ah_, thought Draco, _that girl looks quite like Daphne Greengrass_. He politely declined and shook the Daphne-lookalike off his arm. He flashed them his most charming smile and walked off quickly with the girls still pestering as he made his way out of the common room.

He took a few shortcuts and walked through a long passageway. He came out through a tapestry and glanced around. No professor was about and Filch was missing too. He gave a relieved sigh and quickly walked towards the Room of Requirement. If he was lucky enough, no one would be around this area. He went down the stairs and kept focussed on the direction he was headed in. There was a sole portrait hanging just near that mysterious door.

And he found it.

He slid his hand across the door and it opened to reveal the same spacious room. Everything was exactly the same except that someone was already in there.

Draco's breath quickened and he tried backing out but the door had disappeared once more. The figure in the distance turned and an audible gasp echoed throughout the room.

"_Draco_?"

Draco's eyes widened. That voice was definitely very familiar.

"He-hermione?"

"What are you doing here?"

Hermione walked towards him and stopped just at the perfect distance for him to see her clearly. Her usually wild hair looked slightly tame and her eyes were glistening brightly like as if she had seen something so wonderful. Draco shook his head. He couldn't have such sinful thoughts about her!

"I could ask you the same thing," replied Draco coolly, as he calmed himself.

"Shouldn't you be at the Hospital Wing? And those are nice Greek sandals."

"What?" Draco looked confusedly down at his sandals. "Pomfrey asked me to wear these. Besides, I'm all good. So what are _you_ doing here?"

"Well," began Hermione, "I think the Mirror of Erised is extremely fascinating. I've been trying to figure out if there is a spell that makes it work this way."

Draco's mouth opened in shock. He couldn't believe that she had just openly confessed that she was here to look at the mirror. _He_ felt that it was something so secretive.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Nothing."

"Do you want to look at what I have found so far? I brought some books here to help me with trying to decipher the meaning of the words on the mirror. I believe some of these books also have information about the mirror," she said, leading Draco by the hand and excitedly pointing out the stacks of books on the floor.

"Such a nerd, Granger," muttered Draco, shaking his head amusedly.

"Shut up!"

"To even skip going to Hogsmeade."

"Oh shut it."

"But I quite like it."

Hermione froze. "What?"

Draco leaned towards Hermione. "I said that I like the nerdy aspect. Refreshing."

"Well, Harry and Ron aren't into reading books. So I don't try to force them to. Although, it'd be nice if they had some interest in it."

Draco nodded. "I know what you mean. Crabbe and Goyle weren't readers either."

Hermione looked surprised. "You read?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

Hermione gulped. "Nothing… I just… nothing, really. Look, this book here briefly mentions the mirror. But none of them actually go into detail about it."

"What do you see when you look into the mirror?" asked Draco suddenly. He felt oddly curious.

"I see the three of us walking and talking rather happily."

"The three of us?"

"Harry, you and me."

Draco quite liked the way she said 'you and me' but he couldn't fathom why that was the case. What he was more preoccupied thinking about was that he, too, saw the exact same thing when he looked into the mirror.

"What about you, Draco? What do you see?"

"The same thing."

"What?"

"I see the same thing that you describe."

Hermione pouted. "You're lying."

Draco frowned. "Why should I? What – do you think I actually want to look into a mirror and see you and Potter walking with me?"

Hurt overlapped Hermione's features and Draco felt regretful at once for saying what he didn't mean. "Is that how you see us? As not worth being around?"

Draco shook his head quickly. "No, no. You misunderstand. What I meant is that I'd rather see my face than anything else."

"Ah, such a narcissist," replied Hermione, looking exceedingly relieved.

Draco bit his tongue and mentally scolded himself for being rude but was secretly pleased that he turned the situation.

"Let's get going on this," said Hermione, smiling, as she sat down.

Draco felt a warm feeling spread through him and he removed his scarf, setting it on the ground as he flopped down next to Hermione. A slight pain shot through his ankle and he winced.

"Damn this ankle," he mumbled, as Hermione looked over, concerned.

"Are you all right?" asked Hermione, gently touching Draco's ankle.

The contact of her hand on his skin sent heat searing through his leg and up above. His face flushed and he moved his ankle in the pretence of testing it.

"I'll be fine," he mumbled, making an effort to remain looking down.

_Or not_, he thought glancing at the Gryffindor seated beside him. She had turned her attention to the numerous books spread out in front of her and wasn't looking at him. Draco bit his lip nervously.

He wasn't supposed to feel like this.


	25. Chapter 25

**And we have the next chapter! Thanks for all those reviews, alerts and favs :3**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione lay on her bed and pulled her covers snug around her. The afternoon had been absolutely enjoyable even though she had been in Draco's company. In fact, he was really good company and an excellent listener. The image he saw in the Mirror of Erised surprised her initially but she took it to mean that he wanted to be better friends with both Harry and her.

His sincerity sent a lovely, warm feeling through her and she felt glad that her attempts at drawing Draco out of his shell had actually worked. His eyes looked more alive and there was a certain twinkle in them whenever he looked at her, almost as if he no longer saw her as something so dislikeable.

Her thoughts wandered back to the strange incidences in the train and in the Hospital Wing. Had Draco really called out to her softly in both instances or was it just a figment of her imagination? But it was her visit to the Hospital Wing which disturbed her the most. His voice had sounded so _tender_ and _sorrowful_ like as if he was pouring all of his regret into that 'thank you' which came deep from his heart. That thought sent a pleasant shiver through Hermione.

_Sleep, Hermione, sleep_, she muttered to herself and tried to push all thoughts of Draco out of her head. But the last vision that crept into her mind before she drifted off into a peaceful slumber was Draco's face as he turned away looking slightly flushed. She couldn't forget that look.

* * *

The next day, Hermione went down early to the Great Hall for breakfast before Harry and Ron awoke. As she passed the Slytherin house table, she noticed Draco staring at her. She nodded politely and he did the same.

"How's Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione stumbled over her foot and fell on the bench. She looked to her right to see Luna reading _The Quibbler_ and smiling at it.

"Wha-what- we're not dating!" exclaimed Hermione, looking positively scandalised.

"Hermione, I was merely asking you how his condition is."

"Oh."

"So?"

Hermione bit her lip. "He's over there, Luna. You _could_ ask him that since _you_ were the one who brought him to the Hospital Wing."

Luna shook her head and gave a small laugh. "No, that wouldn't be the best thing for me to do. Anyway, Hermione, I'll be off now. Good luck with Draco."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth wordlessly and sat staring at Luna as she walked off happily. What in the world did Luna mean? Hermione turned to look at Draco, who was busy munching on a piece of toast and reading a book.

"Hermione?"

Hermione jerked up and saw Ginny standing opposite her, hands on the table and looking down suspiciously at her.

"Yes, Ginny?" gulped Hermione, hoping her friend hadn't seen her stare at Draco.

"Why were you staring at Malfoy?"

"I –"

"I know he's hot and everything but that doesn't mean you have to stalk him while he's having his breakfast," said Ginny as a matter-of-fact, sitting down.

"I –"

"And one more thing, where were you yesterday? I could've sworn I saw you in Honeydukes but then you disappeared all of a sudden!"

"I –"

"Harry told me that Ron plans to ask you on a date. Are you going to accept his invitation? Gosh, my brother is so lame."

"I –"

"Do you like Ron at all?"

"Ginny, let me talk," breathed Hermione, feeling slightly worn out by her friend's incessant rambling. "I was looking at Draco, not staring. Plus, I didn't go to Hogsmeade at all. I told Harry and Ron that I was going to stay behind in the library."

"Ah," said Ginny slowly, "so you were with Draco then? No wonder you keep staring at him. Must've had some intimate moments." Ginny nodded her head conspirationally. "I totally understand, Hermione. But I can't quite bring myself to _like_ him, yet."

Hermione's face reddened. "Ginny! Nothing of that sort happened and I must remind you that I intend to draw Draco out of his shell by befriending him. He's always all alone!"

"Oh, so you were staring at him because he looked _lonely_. Go sit with him, then. I don't mind having breakfast on my own."

Hermione shook her head furiously. "No way. A Gryffindor doesn't waltz over to lounge at the Slytherin table. It's not at all polite."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Hmm… seems like there's still some House rivalry within you after all."

Hermione sighed. "I can't _sit_ with Draco in front people but I don't mind _talking_ to him."

"Too bad you can't do both now," replied Ginny, pointing behind Hermione.

She turned around to see Draco surrounded by a bunch of girls who were all over him while he was looking completely bored and tortured. Hermione shrugged nonchalantly but deep down, a little pang surfaced but was quickly suppressed.

"So do you like Ron?"

Hermione kept quiet for a moment.

"Hermione?"

"No, I don't. I can't think of him that way."

* * *

A few days later, Hermione stalked up to Draco and cornered him after class. Draco's shocked face was priceless and Hermione tried to control her mirth. Putting on her best stern look, she said,

"Why have you been avoiding me for the last few days?"

Draco, trying not to look guilty, cleared his throat and replied, "I have no idea what you're trying to get at, Hermione."

Hermione felt a tingle run down her back when he said her name. For the last few days, she had been imagining how it would sound like and her imagination wasn't as good as the real thing.

"Draco, I mean, why do you keep trying not to be near me?"

"Why… do I _have_ to be near you?"

"Well, no," replied Hermione, looking away uncomfortably at the implied meaning of his statement. "Never mind. I'll get going."

Hermione turned around and was about to stalk off in her usual haughty manner but Draco caught her by the arm. She jumped at the contact and her face flushed immediately. "What?"

"Eleven tonight, at that place. Be there," said Draco, smirking, as he walked away.

Hermione stood still in complete disbelief. Had Draco just asked her to meet her at that room? With the mirror? And in the night, too?


	26. Chapter 26

**This is definitely a bit shorter than the previous chapters but... here you gooo! :D**

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

At ten minutes to eleven that night, Hermione slowly got out of her bed. She had pretended to go to bed so that her dorm mates wouldn't suspect anything. She listened carefully; everyone was sound asleep. She quickly pulled a robe over her pyjamas and tiptoed out of the dormitory. She stood against the wall and peeped around the corner. No one was in the common room. She headed out of the common room and walked briskly to the room.

Draco was already there, sitting in front of the mirror. Hermione edge closer, quietly. Draco had an unmistakably intense look on his face as he stared at the mirror. He didn't look up when she sat down next to him.

"You came," he muttered, his eyes not leaving the mirror.

"Well, of course I would," replied Hermione, a little confused. Why would he sound so glad?

"I thought – oh look! There are words forming on the mirror!" exclaimed Draco, pulling Hermione so that she could see where he was pointing at.

Hermione shook her head. "I can't see anything. There aren't any words, Draco."

Draco stood up. "Right here." He pointed at the exact area where the words had formed.

"I really can't see anything."

Draco took a step back and tilted his head to the side. "Perhaps it only shows what it wants to show to the person looking into the mir – bloody hell! It said I'm right!"

Hermione giggled at Draco's outburst. "It says in this little red book here that the mirror communicates to the viewer through the means it chooses to. It probably means this!"

"Well, that's great, Hermione, but what does this mirror actually do?"

"It shows us something."

Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "That took a lot to figure out, hey. It's a mirror, after all."

Hermione shook her head exasperatedly. "But it doesn't behave like a mirror. It doesn't show us-"

"-our faces but shows something else," completed Draco, slowly nodding his head in comprehension.

Hermione's eyes danced brightly. "Exactly."

"But that means it's not a real mirror! A mirror is supposed to reflect everything in front of it!"

"Don't be so narrow-minded," said Hermione, shaking her head in mock sadness.

"Look who's talking," snapped Draco irritated. "The other day I heard you tell the Weaselbee's sister that '_a Gryffindor __doesn't waltz over to lounge at the Slytherin table_'. Very open-minded of you, huh?"

Hermione's eyes widened in shock and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Draco had heard her!

"What I meant was that –"

"You couldn't bear to be seen with me?" Draco deadpanned. "Am I such a disgrace?"

"Urgh, Draco, why are you going on like this all of a sudden? Everything was going well up till now!" lamented Hermione weakly.

"You started it by accusing me of being narrow-minded, Hermione. How could you? You, out of all people. I actually thought we could be _friends_ of some sort but here you go criticising me like this which you completely have no right to!"

Draco looked livid, breathing heavily and his fists were clenched tightly. Hermione shrank away, torn between wanting to tell him that he misunderstood her and yet wanting to know what else he would say. She gathered her courage and decided to try and calm him.

"Draco, I honestly think of you as my friend," began Hermione but was stopped by Draco shaking his head roughly.

"Enough, Hermione. I'm leaving."

With that, Draco made his way to the end of the room and a faint outline of a door had appeared.

"Then why did you ask me to come here tonight?"

That caught Draco off-guard and he paused in his movements. He turned to look at her. Hermione couldn't make out his expression because his face was in the shadow.

"I could find it in myself to forgive you," he said softly. "I wanted to get to know you better."

"It's still not too late," whispered Hermione, hardly trusting her voice.

"For the last few days I've been coming to look into the mirror and you know what I've been seeing?"

"What?" Hermione's lower lip trembled. She wasn't certain that she wanted to know the answer.

Draco raised his head and a ray of light landed across his face, revealing a rather wistful but determined look. His lips twisted into a hurt smile before he turned around and opened the door.

"You."

* * *

**Hehe ^^**


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry for the wait! Thank you all for those lovely reviews. A big thank you to everyone who's fav-ed and alerted this/me. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy ;3**

******_Disclaimer: _**_I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

"Hermione?"

There was no response.

"Hermione?"

There was still no response.

"Granger!"

Hermione woke up with a yelp and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Mmm... Dray...?"

"If you're going to be asleep any longer, you're going to miss the first class!"

"Ginny?"

"Who else would be waking you up! Hurry up!"

Hermione scrambled out of her bed and checked the small clock by her bedside. She had less than fifteen minutes left to get ready!

"Thanks, Ginny!"

Hermione grabbed some of her stuff and hurried into the bathroom, while Ginny was shaking her head in disbelief.

Hermione couldn't quite recall why she ended up sleeping so late. _Why was I distracted_, she wondered. The events of the previous night flew into her mind when she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"THAT MALFOY!"

Outside, Ginny jumped in shock at Hermione's yell. But she couldn't help being curious as to why Hermione would yell Malfoy's name in the bath. Plus when Hermione had woken up, she had mumbled something that sounded strangely similar to 'Draco'. Ginny made a mental note to interrogate Hermione about it later.

* * *

Hermione bustled down the corridor and cursed herself silently for having been so caught up with her thoughts of Draco and the Mirror of Erised that she ended up oversleeping. _Wait, what's the first class_, wondered Hermione, pausing in the middle of her hurry. _Potions! Oh no, I hope I don't get paired with Draco_. She ran towards the potions classroom but skidded to a halt and collided with a rather solid thing. She stepped back and looked up. A silent gasp left her mouth as Draco Malfoy gave her the coldest of looks and entered the class. She gulped inwardly and followed behind. Everyone had _just_ entered so Hermione made a beeline for the seat next to Harry who was right at the back of the classroom. He smiled at her.

"Why weren't you at breakfast?" asked Harry, looking at Hermione with a concerned face.

"Slept in for a bit," said Hermione, her stomach rumbling a little.

"I saved this for you." Harry handed Hermione a blueberry muffin wrapped in a napkin.

"Thank you so much!"

Hermione looked around. Professor Slughorn wasn't in sight. She quickly held her book up in front of her face with one hand and quickly munched on the muffin with the other.

"Feeling better?" Harry asked, smiling.

"Much better. Thanks again," said Hermione, grinning at her best friend.

She looked around the class and noticed that Ron was sitting a few seats away. She cocked her head thoughtfully to the side and figured that Ron might perhaps still be a little unhappy with her and Harry.

"What's with...?"

"Ron?"

"Yeah."

"His usual self."

"Did you try to talk to him, Harry?"

"Of course I did, Hermione! But he's always so _sensitive_."

"Harry, you're his best friend. If you can't coax him out of that state, no one can."

Harry cocked his head to the side disbelievingly. "_You_ are his best friend, too."

Hermione shook her head just as Professor Slughorn tapped the board at the front, signalling everyone's attention.

"Now, if you would like to just split up into pairs," began Slughorn, looking expectantly at everyone.

Mumblings resumed as people chose partners and Hermione looked meaningfully at Harry who nodded his head.

"So, today we're going to brew a cough potion. It's a very useful one, definitely," said Slughorn.

He continued explaining the details of the potion but for once, Hermione didn't raise her hand to ask or answer any questions. She was too bothered with a weird shiver crawling up her spine, like as if someone was watching her.

Hermione turned around and her eyes met with stormy, grey ones. She yelped and instinctively reached out to grab Harry's sleeve. Harry looked startled and slowly loosened Hermione's grip.

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

"N-n-nothing," said Hermione, coughing.

Hermione rubbed her arm in frustration. She couldn't understand why Draco had suddenly turned sensitive at such a casual comment she made! And he also had to take her conversation with Ginny so seriously. Why couldn't he see that it wasn't _that_ easy to break through the expectations of the Wizarding world? If only it was as easy as Hermione wished it could be…

"Come on, let's go!" came Harry's voice, interrupting her thoughts.

Hermione nodded her head mutely and followed him to a desk near the back of the classroom. They were, thankfully, not joined by anyone else so Hermione planned to tell Harry what happened. The two of them split the ingredients between each other and collected them from the cupboard.

"No! Not that jar! This one!" exclaimed Harry, grabbing a bottle out of Hermione's hands and thrusting another one towards her.

"Oh, sorry," mumbled Hermione, feeling ashamed for not being attentive. The two of them headed back to the table.

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

"Malfoy."

"_Malfoy_? Not _Draco_?"

"Harry!"

"Sorry. But, do go on."

"I met him yesterday and I think I said something rather insensitive to him and he just ended up storming away," said Hermione slowly.

"He'll come round."

Hermione turned her head quickly to look at Harry. "Why do you say that?"

"He's got not many friends here, Hermione. I'd say that you are probably his only friend right now!" said Harry, grinning. "Fancy that."

"Oh, then what are you? His lover?"

Harry accidentally stabbed a dried beetle in the eye with Hermione's silver knife and cursed loudly. "Gosh, Hermione! Don't joke about things like that! It's utterly gross!"

Hermione giggled. "Well, I'm sorry."

"I don't quite think I'm friends with Draco Malfoy yet. Sure, we've talked and he gave me an owl, but I suppose there might be a lingering enmity from him."

"Hmmm."

"Whereas _you_ are probably already his friend. He's got nothing against you."

"But he surely does now," said Hermione, stirring the potion sadly.

"Stop stirring! You just went one stir too many," intervened Harry, grabbing the ladle from Hermione. "Why don't you go and get that yellow stuff from the cupboard?"

"Yellow stuff?"

"The last ingredient on the list."

"All right," said Hermione, moving away from the table.

She walked towards the cupboard in a daze, all the while thinking about only one person. As she neared the cupboard, someone called out her name in warning but it was too late. Hermione slipped on something moist and felt her vision shift upwards. Her arms shot out in a weak attempt to break her fall and she closed her eyes tight, prepared for the hard landing which didn't come. Instead, something smelled very nice – a musky aroma which made her mouth water.

"Hermione, you're heavy."

Her eyes shot open and she gasped as she found herself staring into eyes that were looking down at her in amusement.

* * *

**Who ? ! xD**


	28. Chapter 28

**A much delayed update. My apologies ;_; I was too busy with things in real life x.x**

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

"Did you see that, Harry? DID YOU?" whispered Ron angrily. He had stomped over to Harry and stood with his arms crossed in a disapproving manner. "I'm going to do something about this."

Ron made a move to walk forward but Harry pulled Ron back by his cloak. Ron stumbled and fell onto a seat. He tried shrugging Harry off but Harry placed his hand firmly on Ron's shoulder.

"Will you please calm down, Ron?"

"How can I?! He's got his arms around her!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Stop exaggerating."

"Harry, how can you expect me to sit here and do nothing?!"

"For goodness sake, Ron, he's just propping her back up onto her feet. Look," urged Harry, nodding his head towards the pair who were making Ron's blood boil.

Ron shuddered. "Oh Merlin, I think I need some fresh air."

Ron grabbed a large glass dish from the table and starting fanning himself.

"What _are_ you doing? Just put the bloody dish down!" said Harry, exasperatedly, as he grabbed it from Ron's hand.

"He's got his hands on her! I can't take it!" raged Ron, jumping up from his seat.

"Is something the matter, Mr Weedle?"

Ron's ears reddened. "It's Weasley, sir. And n-ye-no, no, there's _nothing_." Ashamed, he sat down. Slughorn had drawn everyone's attention to him.

"Speak any louder and the Daily Prophet will get a nice juicy tale."

"Shut up, Harry. I'm still unhappy."

"Well, let me point out that there is no reason for you to remain unhappy because Hermione is coming back completely unharmed."

And so she was. Harry watched as the petite girl made her way back, with slightly coloured cheeks, and placed the requested ingredient on the table.

"Here you go, Harry. I'm glad I managed to save it," said, Hermione, grinning.

"You mean, Malfoy saved _you_ and so indirectly saved the ingredient," replied Harry, smirking.

Hermione blushed deeply to the roots of her hair. She turned to look at Draco. He had an unreadable expression on his face but he looked right back at her. His eyes shifted to look past her and she turned her head. Ron was sitting on the other seat. She bit back a snarky comment and asked, "Oh, why are you here?"

"Wh-why? Can't I be here?" replied Ron, turning even redder. "Though, of course, it's rather unpleasant watching you and _him_ make eyes at each other."

"Make eyes?" replied Hermione shrilly. "We weren't _making eyes_ at each other!"

"Whatever, Hermione, I'm going back," huffed Ron, standing up.

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him back down.

"What?"

Hermione smiled at him. "You know Harry and I really love you. You know that, don't you?"

Ron nodded stiffly, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess."

"That's good." She patted Ron on the back.

He stood up awkwardly and made his way back to his table. Hermione turned to look at Harry who had a puzzled look.

"What was that for?" asked Harry.

"Just reassuring Ron that he's still our best friend."

* * *

Draco stalked off towards the Slytherin common room before anyone could catch up with him. He was feeling all nervous and confused. It was such a new feeling, one he hadn't ever experienced before. Draco gave the password and entered the common room. He didn't bother glancing at who was there and headed straight up to his bed.

He threw his bag onto the floor lazily and collapsed onto his bed.

Something was not right.

Something hard was under him.

"Did you put on some weight, mate?" came a muffled voice.

"Bloody hell!" yelled Draco, leaping off his bed and pulling back the covers to reveal a smug looking face.

"What a way to greet an old friend, Draco," said Blaise. "There's room if you want to join me." He patted the space next to him.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You're late!"

"I'm always early. It's Blaise's time."

"Get off my bed."

"Who asked you to make it so comfortable? How's your little princess, by the way?"

Draco froze. "Who?"

"Who else!" exclaimed Blaise, rolling his eyes. "Hermione Granger, of course!"

"Shut up!" yelled Draco throwing the covers back onto Blaise. "You talk too loudly!"

A peal of muffled laughter escaped from Blaise. He threw back the covers and sat up. "Looks like I've hit a sensitive spot."

Draco felt his cheeks warming. "What are you going on about?"

"Your cheeks tell me a lot."

"Sorry, I should tell them to behave."

"You like her then, I take it?"

Draco shook his head violently. "Madness, Blaise. Please, talk some sense."

Blaise got up and pushed Draco back onto the bed. He stood up and placed his hands over his hips in an interrogating stance. Draco felt rather helpless and vulnerable with his friend towering over him. He quickly rolled over and scooted to the other side of his space.

"I wager something happened today that's why you're looking all guilty," said Blaise, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing happened." But Draco's eyes fell to the floor, unable to meet his friend's.

"Come on, let's get on with it. There's class in fifteen minutes."

"I saved her."

"What?"

"She was about to fall but I caught her before she did," explained Draco.

Blaise gaped at Draco.

"_What_? You're beginning to resemble a goldfish!"

"I can't believe _you_ would actually do that. Don't tell me you sprinted across the room like a Romeo and caught her before she hit the ground," ventured Blaise.

Draco's silence and red face was enough to answer Blaise's curiosity.

Blaise grabbed Draco in a one-armed hug. "Come, let's get this all sorted."

"Wa-wa-wait!"

"Love can't wait," smirked Blaise, picking his bag and Draco's before dragging Draco out of the dormitory.

* * *

**For those of you who are still following this story, thank you :) To my new readers, welcome :D**


	29. Chapter 29

**Okay, the next one :) Thanks to all my readers, old and new.**

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

"Harry! Come on! Hurry up!"

"Oh really, Hermione! It's your fault for wanting to go from the potions classroom to the library and then to Professor Partridge's class! All in fifteen minutes!"

Hermione stopped abruptly, causing Harry to crash into her. He let out a muffled curse, straightening his spectacles as he looked up at her. "What now?"

"We've still got five minutes left, Harry!"

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go on!" urged Harry, nodding his head vigorously in a general direction towards their classroom.

Hermione shook her head and then signalled to Harry with her eyes. Harry turned around and looked in the direction that Hermione was keeping her eye on. He saw a flash of silver hair rounding the corner before two people appeared. One was grinning while the other had an absolutely flustered look on his face. The ecstatic one was practically dragging the silver-haired person in a very determined fashion.

"Draco Malfoy, huh," muttered Harry, glancing slyly at Hermione. "I guess we've got time for this then?"

Hermione's cheeks reddened a little. "What nonsense are you on about, Harry? All of us have the same classes for all our lessons! It's only courteous to wait for a classmate."

"A classmate that you somehow managed to spot from such a great distance. I thought I had two specks of dirt in my eye."

"Oh, don't exaggerate. They weren't that far away!"

Harry gently nudged Hermione and then burst into a fit of laughter, causing Hermione to whack Harry hard on the harm. He clutched his arm and continued laughing, doubling over. "Stop making a scene, Harry!"

"I'm not! You're the one who started this whole Prince Draco crap!"

"Prince Draco!?" cried Hermione shrilly.

Harry guffawed. "Please tell me something Hermione."

"What?"

"You did not just shout that aloud, did you?"

Hermione blanched. Harry let out another mirth of laughter as the two aforementioned people halted next to them.

"Hey guys," greeted Blaise in a very friendly manner. Draco barely nodded his head, his eyes immediately affixed on Hermione before looking at the wall behind Harry.

"Blaise, hi, and Draco, too," choked out Harry, doing his best to control his laughter. Hermione just nodded her head, unable to get anything out of her mouth.

"So what are you guys hanging about here for? Isn't the classroom just round the corner or something?"

Harry glanced at Hermione. He was about to answer Blaise's question when Hermione cut in with, "Oh, uh… we were just taking a short rest."

"Such a convenient spot," smirked Blaise knowingly.

Hermione bit her lip. "We've just rushed over here from the library."

"Yeah, really," put in Harry, feeling a little sorry for his friend.

"Shall we get going?" interrupted Draco.

Harry looked at him, surprised. "I didn't know you were so passionate about Defence classes!"

"I'm not _passionate_ about them!"

"Of course he'd be passionate about _all_ his classes," said Blaise, smirking as he shot a look at Hermione.

Hermione pretended not to notice it. "Oh, come _on_. Let's just get going!"

She stalked off towards the classroom, her hair flying up madly and set down in a huff at a table in the corner of the room. Most of their classmates were already there, excluding Ron. Harry sat down on the seat next to Hermione. Blaise came in next to Harry followed by Draco. They were all panting, out of breath from their respective runs. Harry glanced at the doorway, waiting for Ron to enter. A minute later, Ron walked in and paused when he saw the group. His face had an unreadable expression. Before Harry could signal Ron to come over, Professor Partridge bustled into the room and ferried Ron to the seat next to Draco Malfoy.

"Nice development going on," whispered Harry to Hermione.

"I agree." Hermione chuckled.

Ron reluctantly sat down and chose not to look at Draco. Draco, however, turned his head and coughed lightly. "Hey, Weasley."

"Uh, yeah, hi," mumbled Ron, his ears showing a hint of redness.

Harry smirked. This was going to be a fun class.

* * *

"So who are you going to be doing the Defence project with, Hermione?" asked Blaise, as the whole lot of them headed towards the Great Hall after class.

Hermione let out a defeated sigh. "I totally forgot about that!"

"But Professor Partridge just mentioned it again."

"I was distracted," mumbled Hermione, rubbing her ear.

"Oh really?" smirked Blaise, giving a sideways glance to where Draco was talking to Harry.

"Blaise, you're horrid!" exclaimed Hermione, smacking him on the arm.

"You better look after your best friend, too."

"Which best friend?"

"Ronald Weasley, of course!"

Hermione turned around to see Ron trudging behind them rather unwillingly. She shook her head and sighed. "I _can't_ understand what Ron's problem is!"

"He's jealous, obviously."

"Of what?" asked Hermione, shocked.

"You should be asking of _whom_ he is jealous of." Blaise grinned.

"And?"

"Obviously Draco!"

"What!?"

Blaise's voice dropped to a whisper. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

Hermione rounded on Blaise. "How can it be obvious to _you_ who just arrived today?"

"Ron's really subtle," said Blaise, nodding his head.

Hermione's cheeks reddened. "Well, then tell me why Ron would be jealous of Draco."

"He's got it in for you, Hermione!"

"Who?"

"Well, both of them actually."

"What!"

"Really."

"You're just blowing smoke." Hermione crossed her arms defensively. They had just reached the Great Hall and Hermione headed straight for the Gryffindor table but was yanked from the back by Blaise who dragged her to the Slytherin table. Harry, Ron and Draco were already seated there with Ron looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

"Welcome to the dark side," said Blaise, wiggling his eyebrows.

Once, that might have been a very true statement. But now, it was rather funny. Harry grinned and Ron snorted. Draco smiled and looked at Hermione, who was trying to hold back her laughter. There were some students who were looking at them but no one seemed to pay much attention.

"I'm hungry," burst out Ron, as he grabbed a piece of chicken leg and bit into it eagerly.

Hermione, Draco and Harry exchanged looks. "Classic," muttered Draco.

"Shut up," mumbled Ron, between mouthfuls of shepherd's pie.

Not even the reddest ruby couldn't match the colour of Ron's face.


	30. Chapter 30

**Here you go :)**

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco paced up and down nervously. Would she come? He had slipped the note into her book when no one was looking. He wasn't quite sure if _she_ had seen it. Probably not, since she was being distracted by his idiot of a friend. It was intentional on Blaise's part but that distraction was at such an opportune moment that Draco couldn't help but feel grateful.

"_Hermione! Hermione!" called Blaise. "What do you think of this book?"_

"_Which one?" Hermione went over to Blaise and took the book from his hands._

_Draco felt rather annoyed that Blaise kept trying to grab Hermione's attention. In fact, he was even more annoyed with Blaise for suggesting that they all head down to the library to work on the Defence project together. Why should Hermione and Blaise be partners for the project? Why was _he_ stuck with the Weasel just because Harry had already been asked by Luna Lovegood?_

"_Um, how do you want to split the tasks?" ventured Ron rather reluctantly._

_Draco turned to look at Ron and stopped himself from frowning. "Well, we're supposed to learn a new skill, right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_So, I guess, maybe we could first narrow down on what type of skill we want to learn. And then from there, we can search the books for possible skills."_

"_Uh huh."_

"_And we have to submit an essay and also do a demonstration of it in class," paused Draco. He looked over to Hermione who was busy engaged in a very serious discussion with Blaise. A twinge of envy rose within him but he quickly turned away and looked down at his notes. "So… we can split the essay later and then look over it together. As for the demonstration, I guess we'd have to practice it."_

_Hermione laughed from over where she was with Blaise and Draco couldn't help but steal a glance at her. She looked so wonderful with an angelic aura glittering around her. Her smile was perfect, the way her eyes twinkled made Draco want to move over and stare into them. A curl was slipping just past her ear and Draco fought the urge to reach out and brush it back. Instead, he began rummaging through his bag, pretending to find something which he probably didn't quite need, just to distract himself._

" – _first? Hmm?"_

_Draco jerked up. "Sorry, what did you say?"_

_Ron pursed his lips. "Forget it. Let's just decide what skill we want. I'm thinking of something attack-based."_

"_I was thinking more of defence."_

"_Attack is good, because you immediately get straight into action."_

"_Nah, defence is more worth it because knowing how to protect yourself can help you protect others as well."_

"_Attack, or offence, as they call it is _so_ much better!"_

"_What do you know? Honestly, it's so much more important to guard your life!"_

"_Guys, really, stop arguing," Hermione butted in. She gave them an amused smile. "There is a skill that both of you can compromise on." Hermione brought a thick tome over to their table. She flipped several pages deep into the book before pointing triumphantly at a paragraph. "Right here." _

_It was a small paragraph that briefly described the Staunching Spell, an uncommon but tried and tested spell that proved rather useful. It had been discovered more than a thousand years ago but gradually died out because there was a greater preference for skills that were either solely for attack or defence. At this, both Ron and Draco said, "See!"_

"_Well, now you've got something to work on at least," smirked Hermione, turning her attention back to Blaise._

_Draco realised that Blaise was giving him a know-it-all look and held back his thoughts. His friend loved to insinuate things! "All right, since Hermione helped us with that bit, let's move on to finding more information on the Staunching Spell."_

_Ron merely nodded and got up abruptly before disappearing behind the bookshelves. Draco glanced over at Blaise and Hermione to see that both of them were busy working on something. He quickly took out a piece of parchment and noiselessly tore a bit of it. Then, picking up his quill and dipping it into some ink, he wrote, "Mirror. Tonight at 11." He folded it and held it in his palm. Suddenly, Blaise gave a startled sound the same time Draco heard the shattering of glass. Black ink was all over the floor near them and bits of glass pieces twinkled. _

"_Oh dear me," mumbled Hermione, bending down to survey the damage as Blaise got out of his seat and set about to magically cleaning the area._

_Draco quickly slipped the note between Hermione's little notebook and then stood up to help them. "What a mess, Blaise."_

Well, thank goodness Blaise's carelessness had distracted Hermione and set him busy. If not, Draco wouldn't have known how he could've passed her the note unseen. He checked the little pocket watch in his pocket. One more minute to 11 p.m.

The door was thrown open and a figure stood, panting at the doorway, clutching the side. "If I hadn't found the note, would you still have been waiting?"

"Obviously," replied Draco.

"I thought you hadn't forgiven me yet."

"How can I not forgive you?" said Draco softly. The figure still stood by the door. "Come here, Hermione."

Draco kept his eyes on Hermione as she walked forward, the door slowly shutting behind her. The candles floating above them were dim but outlined Hermione's beauty intricately. Draco just could not take his eyes off her.

"I'm sorry, Draco, I really am."

"It's all right, Hermione."

"Sure?"

"Very."

"I wish I was doing the Defence project with you," mumbled Hermione. "Not that Blaise is a bad partner to work with…"

"You just prefer me, don't you?" smirked Draco.

"Draco!"

"I wish we were better friends."

"What do you mean? Aren't we already friends?"

"Well, we are, but – "

Hermione shook her head and placed a finger on Draco's lips. "Shh."

Draco's eyes widened. The soft touch from Hermione's finger was distracting. His hand closed around hers and he brought it down. "I don't like you."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "What the – "

Draco couldn't bear it any longer. His lips came crashing down on hers and he refused to let her say anything. There was a slight hesitation but soon, he felt Hermione returning the kiss. His arms slid around her and pulled her close. She had one hand on his back and the other was in his hair, clutching hard like she was afraid to let him go. She felt so nice and warm in his arms. So perfect, as if that place had always been meant for her.

"Mmm," mumbled Hermione, between kisses.

Draco pulled back slowly and looked at Hermione. Her cheeks were slightly red and she was breathing quickly. She pulled back from him and straightened her robes and patted her hair nervously. She looked up at Draco and threw her hands up in the air.

"What did we just do!?"

* * *

**:O!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Well I've started uni again and gosh, there's always things to do – uni work or otherwise.**

**Well I hope this chapter will satisfy your wait :)**

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own anything that looks familiar to the world of Harry Potter._

* * *

"What did we just do!?"

"Kiss, obviously."

"Draco, be serious."

"Well, we just kissed."

Hermione stomped her foot in frustration. A million thoughts were speeding through her brain. "This was not meant to happen! We're just meant to be frien – "

"But I don't want to just be friends with you! I want to be more than that!" burst out Draco, running his hand through his hair. "Don't you get it? Ever since potions. I couldn't take it any longer!"

Hermione stared, completely astounded. Was she hearing the right things? It couldn't be, it couldn't… could it? A sprig of hope crept within her.

"I thought you said you didn't like me."

"And do I look like someone who would kiss a person I disliked?"

"… I don't know…"

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Draco impatiently.

"So you like me, then?"

"I can't stay as just friends any longer, Hermione."

"Then let's date."

Hermione bit her lip nervously. She, too, knew what Draco meant. After potions that day, she knew that she had been feeling something more. She wanted to talk to him so badly but Blaise kept stealing her attention away. On top of it all, there was Ron who kept an eye on her every time she attempted to talk to Draco. Dating Draco wouldn't be too difficult, she knew. She wasn't intending to seek any approval or that sort of rubbish.

"What? Are you certain?" asked Draco, astounded. "I mean, you don't have to do this. I don't want to force you into anything. I'm just trying to explain –"

"There's nothing to explain because I feel the same way."

A long, deep silence ensued where the duo just stared at each other, trying to ascertain that they felt the same way and no one was playing a cruel joke.

"You're not forcing me into anything. It's something I have been thinking about… for awhile," mumbled Hermione, her face turning pink, but not visible in the dim room.

"I… I still find that a little hard to believe," said Draco, tilting his head to the side. "This is not some horrible prank, right?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"But –"

"A kiss is just a kiss. Prove it to me."

"Come here."

"You're not going to try to kiss me again, are you?" Hermione asked, suspicious.

Draco let out a little laugh. "No, I shan't force it on an _unwilling_ person."

Hermione moved forward closer to Draco. "Close your eyes." He gently took her hand in his and rested it on his chest. "Can you feel it, Hermione?"

Hermione could feel the steady heartbeat that was going at such a rapid pace she was sure it would tire soon. _Wait a minute_, she thought. _Draco's heartbeat… it can't be because of me?_

Hermione opened her eyes and found herself gazing into Draco's silver orbs that were now so dark and intense. She took hold of his hand and placed it on her chest. "Do you feel mine?"

Draco's face reddened deeply and he turned away slightly. "Yes."

"Do you believe me?"

"Do _you_ believe me?"

"I do."

"I do, too."

"Hermione Granger, will you go out with me?"

"Draco Malfoy, why do you sound like you are proposing to me?" replied Hermione, grinning. "Of course I'll go out with you!"

"Great." Draco gave a really happy smile and looked down at the floor. "My girlfriend, huh?"

"Says the boyfriend. Now what shall we do?" asked Hermione, smiling shyly.

"Oh, I know you can't wait to do all sorts of things with me," grinned Draco as Hermione turned beet red, "but it's quite late already, don't you agree?"

Hermione glanced down at her watch and gasped. It was almost midnight and she had to wake up in six hours! "We better leave."

"Yeah, let's go."

Both were about to walk towards the door when a glimmer drew their attention. They turned around to look at where it was coming from. The mirror in the corner was glowing faintly. The two of them looked at each other and stepped forward carefully. They both stood in front of the mirror and looked into it.

"What do you see?" asked Draco, turning to look at Hermione.

Hermione laughed. "It's not necessary to know."

"Tell me," persisted Draco.

"You must promise to tell me what you see as well."

"All right."

"I see you and me looking really happy. We're together at a social event of some sort and we're getting along so well. I don't know when this is, though."

Draco nodded. "I see you and me, really happy, sitting by a river and watching a giant squid."

Hermione giggled. "I see."

"Oh, do you?" Draco asked gesturing at the mirror.

"Draco!" Hermione hit Draco's arm playfully. Draco let out a laugh and was about to reach his hand out to Hermione but her attention was caught by the mirror.

_Things are not what they seem_, she read the script silently. _More can happen, if you let it._

"What's wrong, Hermione?" asked Draco, concerned. "Is something in _there_ wrong?"

Hermione shook her head immediately. "No, nothing." _So Draco couldn't see it, huh_, she thought.

"Let's go then."

They walked towards the door and Draco pushed it open slowly, looking around. He signalled to Hermione to step out and then followed after her. They walked along the corridor and stopped at an intersection. Hermione peaked around the corner. The coast was clear.

"Goodnight, Draco!"

"Night, Hermione. Sleep well."

She quickly tiptoed past the sleeping portraits but was yanked back. She felt herself being spun around. She looked up at Draco who was smirking down at her. He leaned in and gave her an almost invisible kiss. A thrill ran through Hermione and she kissed him back, wanting to feel his lips on hers once more. Then, she quickly disentangled herself and ran up the stairs. When she reached the top, she looked back. Draco was still standing there, smirking at her. She gave him a small wave and then hurriedly went on to the next flight of stairs. Her face heated up when she kept replaying what had happened and the aftermath. She slowly slipped into the Gryffindor common room after whispering the password to the rather grumpy Fat Lady.

"_Homenum revelio_," she whispered. There was no one in the common room area.

She ran through and headed straight up the stairs to her bed. She had left the curtain hangings drawn around her bed so that no one would presume to bother looking for her. She slipped behind them and stared at her bed. She didn't know whether to sit or stand or sleep. No, she didn't think she could sleep! It was all too much for her. So she sat down but stood up again, feeling restless. Her mind couldn't stop replaying the night's incident.

She forced herself to lie down. She had promised to meet Ginny early in the library. She had to sleep. She had to, or she'd fall asleep in lessons. She pulled the covers closer around her and stared up at the ceiling. She willed herself to sleep. It was not at all easy no matter how hard she tried to calm her nerves and force her thoughts away.

* * *

**How was that!? :D**


End file.
